INDEX 01. Preface by the Board of Directors 04 - Enterprise Development North Kosovo 52 - Business Start-up Centre Zimbabwe 55 02. Executive Summary 06 - Bridging the Divide 57

- Higher Education Highlights 07 - Private Sector Development Highlights 08 4.3 Research 62 - World Bank research on youth exclusion - SPARK as part of Consortium Highlights: 08 62 - SPARK for Improvement Highlights 09 4.4 SPARK as Part of a Consortium 63 - “I don’t need a parachute... to land in Europe!” 64 03. Background and Mission 11 - Visually Impaired Persons Business Support Programme, Molova 65 13 - Youth Entrepreneurship Civil-Public Partnership 67 - Strategy 13 - Young Employed and Independent 69 - Key/guiding principles - Hanga Umurimo Project 70 - Job Search, Basic Managerial Skills, Work Ef ciency Skills, 71 04. Our Passion 14 Attitude, Behaviour & Ethics and Basic IT Skills 4.1 Higher Education 15 4.5 Project Development and Fundraising 72 - Fundraising - International Business College Mitrovica 17 72 - Youth engagement in Political Parties - Mitrovica Youth Programme 22 74 - M&E solution for Youth Empowerment Programme - Scholarship Database for Western Balkan Students 28 76 - Diploma Acceptance Project 77 4.2 Private Sector Development 30 - Overview Fundraising 78 - Enterprise Development Programme (MFSII) 32 - Burundi 35 - Rwanda 37 - Liberia 39 - Palestinian Territories 41 - Kosovo 43 - Regional Private Sector Development in Southeast Europe 44 - Support to Economic Development of Minority Communities in 48 Eastern Kosovo

02 INDEX 05. Organisation 79 07. Main targets and budget 2011 105 - Current areas of Responsibility 80 - Strategy and Objectives 2011 81 08. Financial 113 - Re ection on Targets 2011 82 - Organisational Actors 84 - Board of Directors 85 - Staff 85 - Interns 85 - Volunteers 86 - Supervisory Board 87 - Report by the Supervisory Board 88 - Accountability statement 90 - Committee of Recommendation 92 - HR policy 93 - ICT and Knowledge management 94 - Partners 95 - Partner policy related to capacity building 96 - SPARK Communications 96

06. SPARK for improvement 98 6.1 Quality 99 - Quality 99 - ISO certicate, ANBI and CBF 100 - Quality standard for development sector 100 - Complaint policy 101 6.2 Transparency, Innovation and 101 Learning - TranSPARKency 101 - Brilliant Failures 102 - Learning 103 03 PREFACE BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dear reader,

It is with great pleasure that we present the Annual Report 2011.

In 2011 SPARK ventured out into new countries with entrepreneurship development programmes. In line with our mission, we continue the focus on job creation and sustainable economic development in fragile states. A brand new ve year programme kicked off in 2011, implemented by the “United Entrepreneurship Coalition” (UEC) started in ve locations: Kosovo, the Palestinian Territories, Liberia, Rwanda and Burundi. In each of these locations, SPARK and its consortium members, support local organisations to create jobs and boost sustainable economic growth. The new programme also brings with it signi cant changes in the internal organisation, especially with regards to monitoring and evaluation and partner management. Besides our new entrepreneurship programme mentioned above, the single most important activity of SPARK continues to be the International Busi- ness College Mitrovica (IBCM). This internationally registered higher vocational business school developed rapidly and saw its student numbers increase to 158 in 2011. It also started preparation for constructing new premises, attain international accreditation and develop its international double Bachelor degrees. SPARK also set an overall target to create, between 2012 and 2015, 20.000 new jobs in the (fragile) states we operate in. This will be the guiding principle of the organisation in the coming years. Besides the programmes already in place, new initiatives will continue to be developed to bring about this prime economic development objective. SPARK also remained dedicated to transparency as one of our key guiding principles. We believe that, in a world which is gradually recovering from economic crises and a political climate in which budget cuts are increasingly likely, it is important to give a full insight into the use of funds, allowing everyone to follow our spending and track our results – and failures. The whole development sector has come under scrutiny during the last couple of years and there is increasing pressure on the sector, from the bene ciaries, the public at large and donors, to show that we do things well by being open about our work. To this end, the TranSPARKency website remained instrumental throughout the year, keeping our nancial records public up to receipt level. Additionally, nal concrete steps were taken to make SPARK’s the rst IATI compliant organisation in the Netherlands in 2012. 04 As a result of the rapidly diminishing support base for development cooperation in the Netherlands, SPARK intensi ed its emphasis on building partnerships with other countries and raising support in innovative ways. This will continue to be a focus area in the coming years and including setting up partnerships with the government of the countries we operate in, and develop stronger ties with the private sector.

The sector is becoming increasingly competitive, which means that SPARK needs to work hard to shape and strengthen its added value. Much time and effort was therefore spent on developing SPARK activities and services. Moreover, in order to further improve the quality of operations within the NGO sector, SPARK continues to strive for the introduction of an ISO quality label for development aid NGOs speci cally.

We worked hard to ensure that our aid continues to support stabilisation in the regions in which we operate and we remain dedicated to our mission to empower young people to lead their post-conict society into prosperity. We hope this Annual Report will answer all your questions about our work in 2011 and we invite you to contact us if you have any questions or need further information.

Yours truly,

Yannick Du Pont, Director Michel Richter, Co-Director

05

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2011, SPARK embarked on several new projects and programmes, developing the organisation physically by expanding to new countries, and internally by making structural changes.

The secured grant from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NLMFA) dominated the agenda in 2011. The MFSII programme not only had the greatest in uence on SPARK’s expansion to new countries, but also in SPARK’s internal organisation. Signicant changes were made with regards to monitoring and evaluation and partner management.

The MFSII programme required SPARK to make three main internal organisational changes. One was the development of the monitoring and evalua- tion capacity; an M&E manager was hired and concrete steps towards the development of the M&E system were made. Another was related to the 25% non-NLMFA funding rule, which required SPARK to invest more into fundraising and therefore improve its fundraising capacity. The third change was the focus on developing distinct SPARK specic activities and services, requiring SPARK to develop its own capacity to deliver services to partners in SPARK projects and to projects of other organisations.

Many more achievements were made in the past year. Below are some highlights from 2011. As before, SPARK was active in projects dealing with higher education and private sector development. In addition to SPARK’s own projects, this year’s annual report also recognises the projects in which SPARK was a partner in a consortium.

■ Higher Education Highlights:

The International Business College Mitrovica (IBCM), which offers 2-year double vocational professional qualications, as well as 3.5-year Bachelor programmes all taught in English, has steadily been growing with more students enrolling than the previous year and also more staff being hired. The IBCM has seen some new positive developments in 2011 and is preparing for its rst graduation ceremony that will be held in March 2012.

The Winter University in Mitrovica was again successfully organised by the University. The event continues to be important for local teachers and 07 students by exposing them to international teaching methods and discussions. Students participated in the two-week course that aims to not only educate, but also improve, inter-ethnic understanding and support access to Higher Education of non-majority communities in Southeast Europe.

The SPARK-initiated Scholarship Database for Western Balkan students continued to provide a valuable service to students seeking to study abroad, thereby accelerating the integration process of Southeast European students into the EU, primarily in the eld of education.

■ Private Sector Development Highlights:

As was mentioned before, our largest highlight of 2011 was the MFSII programme. 2011 marked the start of the 5 year MFSII era. This meant also much attention and focus would be placed on MFSII-related projects. The start of the year saw the recruitment of new staff and of course the Country Managers for the 5 new MFSII countries; Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, Kosovo and the Palestinian Territories. Project Activity Sheets were developed by the partners together with the Country Managers and activities began.

SPARK set several targets for itself for 2011, which were almost all met or exceeded. For example, SPARK planned for 210 jobs to be created through 90 new businesses and in the MFSII programme alone 165 jobs through 46 businesses were created.

SPARK’s fundraising capacity and services development has been extensively addressed in work plans, courses of action and fundraising strategies for 2012 and further. SPARK successfully submitted 9 proposals of which one went to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NLMFA). The grant proposal to the Postcode Loterij was unfortunately denied again (as in 2010), but will be attempted again in 2012.

The Enterprise Development programme in North Kosovo aims to boost the development of new and existing small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the region, thereby contributing to direct poverty alleviation through the strengthening of businesses and creation of jobs. SPARK is the implementing partner with an established track record in providing start-up packages including nancial support to young entrepreneurs.

In minority communities in Eastern Kosovo (Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, Klokot/Kllokot, Ranilug/Ranillug and Štrpce/Shtërpcë municipalities), good prog- ress was made towards the project aimed at creating favourable conditions for the development and support of SMEs in the 4 municipalities. Busi- ness Start-up Centres (BSCs) were set up in Novo Brdo/Novobërdë and Štrpce/Shtërpcë and BSC mobile teams were in place to cover three addi- tional municipalities (Klokot/Kllokot, Ranilug/Ranillug and Partes/Partesh).10 SMEs in the targeted areas have been strengthened through the grant- ing scheme established to decrease unemployment levels and strengthen the production capacity of businesses. 08 Preparations were made by local private sector partners with the assistance from SPARK for a pilot project with the aim of establishing a Business Start-up Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe. The BSCZ will offer training, coaching and access to nance to ambitious entrepreneurs with viable business plans. The principle aim is to create jobs, and to stimulate the local SME sector as the motor of the economy.

“Bridging the Divide” is a project in Kosovo that aims to bring about community stabilisation and reintegration through the implementation of highly visible, high-impact, infrastructural interventions on both sides of the divide, the establishment of a modern monthly webzine ‘M-M@G’, and the establishment of a vibrant Centre for Resources, Youth and Media (CRYM). In 2011, progress was made in all three areas.

■ SPARK as part of Consortium Highlights:

The Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs) Business Support Programme in Moldova aims to improve the position of VIPs by developing a supportive, sustainable organisation for blind individuals in Moldova to expand their professional potential and abilities. SPARK’s role in the project is to exchange knowledge of the trainers in setting up small and medium-sized enterprises by VIPs.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Civil-Public Partnership is a project that supports the development of Civil Society Organisations in Serbia and their active participation in socio-economic development and EU integration process as well as to developing youth entrepreneurship as an instrument of youth employment and sustainable socio-economic development. In an effort to help build the capacities of these CSOs and informal youth groups in entrepreneurship, SPARK helped arrange a visit for 16 Serbians from various groups and organisations to the Netherlands to see how the Dutch support young entrepreneurs and to better understand the value of public-private partnerships in providing opportunities for young people.

■ SPARK for Improvement Highlights:

The TranSPARKency website continued to give insight into spending down to the receipt level. Work is underway to tie in this nancial data with impact results from a new Management Information System. Linking these two will allow viewers to see the exact costs of the impact we are achiev- ing. Additionally, SPARK made steps towards becoming IATI compliant in 2012, another way to achieve SPARK’s goal of being the most transparent organisation in Europe.

SPARK holds a number of markers of quality including the ISO 9001:2008 quality management label. The ISO 9001 certi cate rewards the Quality 09 Management System of an organisation; one that enhances stakeholder satisfaction and demonstrates continuous learning (improvement). SPARK’s Quality Management System involves procedures and requirements for our most important business processes such as the organisation of summer courses and business plan competition, as well as handling of complaints, and planning, monitoring and evaluation process.

SPARK is a member of Partos Quality Committee. SPARK supports this Committee and through this body the Partos members encourage and facili- tate the introduction of an internationally acknowledged and externally audited quality system; in our case ISO 9001. We believe that an international quality assurance would greatly improve the possibility to assess development organizations in an international context.

In 2011, the ‘Brilliant Failures Award’ was given to the best learning moment/instrument in the development sector as a way to showcase the value of failures. The award ceremony was organised by SPARK and the Institute for Brilliant Failures, an initiative that originated from a project initiated by ABN AMRO. It was originally established to create learning opportunities in business development and is based on the experience of entrepreneurs who failed to achieve the desired results from their business.

10

BACKGROUND & MISSION

SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship so that young ambitious people are empowered to lead their post- con ict societies into prosperity. It does so by building the capacity of local economic and educational organisations and institu- tions.

SPARK was founded in 1994 as an independent non-prot organisation, focusing on support to Higher Education. Along with its founding principle, SPARK continues to support educational institutions in Southeast Europe. Furthermore, SPARK encourages entrepreneurship through its programmes for business start-ups and private sector development.

SPARK wishes to uphold its mission so that we can assist post-con ict countries. It is crucial to understand the political dynamics in these societies and sense how to operate in these sometimes tense conditions in order to make a lasting impact. Areas that are plagued by corruption and renewed con icts can halt, or even retract, the work we do. Even though the countries we operate in are very different in terms of culture and the reasons behind con ict, uncertain political climates and weak institutions present problems that all organisations face in these areas.

We transfer our experience and knowledge from Southeast Europe to other post-con ict territories. As our Southeast European partners have rst-hand experience in post-con ict construction and all have undergone, or are undergoing, complex economic and educational reform processes, they are the ideal ‘experts’ for this transfer.

We work hard to ensure that our projects do not cause harm in the post-con ict societies; we aim to develop by making sure that our nancial contri- butions do not go to activities that might obstruct positive and peaceful development. In Higher and Vocational Education, we work towards our mission by combining activities that support local educational institutions and Universities, and by facilitating Summer/Winter Universities and other capacity-building educational support programmes.

In Private Sector Development, a series of business start-up centres funded by SPARK in collaboration with a range of local partners provide impor- tant services that encourage entrepreneurs to take the leap and start their own businesses. We believe it is a combination of efforts that creates value in societies. The total package of competitive elements such as business plan competitions, training of skills, coaching, mentoring and access 12 to nance makes a great difference as it is often dif cult for organisations that help the young to connect with nancial actors. Investors are looking for good business plans, but lack the recourses or tools to identify and support them.

We have the vision that pro-poor sustainable economic growth, particularly through strengthening relevant local partners, facilitating entrepreneur- ship, and creating an enabling environment for private sector development, is essential for creating self-reliance and thereby poverty alleviation in the least developed countries and fragile states. We undertake this work together with a range of local partners such as chambers of commerce, universities, vocational schools, local governments and CSOs, to ensure that this enabling environment is created and added to.

Our mission stipulates that we work towards this vision by supporting people in post-conict areas to create or grow their own business, or to provide their own socioeconomic security by reinforcement of the local economic and educational institutions. Special attention is paid to a target group of 18-35 year olds, as SPARK believes that empowering them offers them the capacity to play a unique role in leading their post-conict societies into prosperity

■ Strategy

We work on three strategic levels to accomplish this:

1. Direct Poverty Alleviation through growth and employment generation. 2. Capacity Building of economic and educational partner institutions. 3. Policy Making & Advocacy to support more effective participation of these partner institutions.

Key/guiding principles

Key principles for our work are:

• A demand-driven approach that pinpoints the needs and priorities of local beneficiaries • The promotion of local ownership as a precondition for sustainability • A society-oriented focus that ultimately benefits society as a whole • The support of long-term cross-regional and international cooperation processes. 13

OUR PASSION

When rebuilding post-con ict societies, it is crucial to develop education and entrepreneurship. SPARK aims to contribute to this in different parts of the world through a range of programmes and projects, and in cooperation with a wide variety of part- ners. Most of our interventions are aimed at youth aged 18-35, as we believe they can play a particularly important role in lead- ing their society into stability and prosperity.

This chapter describes our main activities of 2011, the results we achieved and the lessons we learnt. The rst section addresses our most important education programmes and projects, while the second section focuses on the interventions that aim to contribute to private sector development. For the projects in these two sections SPARK is lead partner. The third section looks at a project focused on research; a new SPARK venture. For the projects in the fourth section, SPARK is part of a consortium and does not have a lead role. An overview of these programmes and projects is provided in the tables at the start of each section. The chapter ends with a section on project development and fundraising, which are both important prerequisites for the work we aim to do.

■ 4.1 Higher Education

Young people in fragile states are faced with both arrears in vocational or higher education and a high unemployment rate. This makes them a vulnerable and potentially volatile group within society, which can be defused by actively engaging them in the development and strengthening of the economy. This is a challenge, as it is often evident that a low level of entrepreneurial understanding exists among the youth.

The areas in which SPARK operates are in urgent need of rebuilding basic societal functions. This requires a level of competency that is primarily generated through Universities and Higher Vocational Institutions. SPARK aims to help local actors and institutions provide the education that the youth within these societies deserve. It is in this way that the youth are given the chance of becoming the young professionals that are needed in every society, from skilled labourers to lawyers, doctors and business professionals. SPARK actively supports curriculum building and quality assur- ance at these educational institutions. 15 One of SPARK’s rst undertakings in the area of Higher Education were the Summer Universities, which eventually also came to include Winter Universities.

This year only a Winter University was held. Previ- ous years witnessed the successful completion of Summer and Winter Universities in Mitrovica, Pristina, Liberia, Palestinian Territories and Mace- donia.

These successes have encouraged SPARK to continue searching for more Summer and Winter University possibilities.

Higher education continues to be at the heart of SPARK. In 2011, we were involved in a variety of Pristina University: Started in 2001 with help from SPARK, in 2005 it became programmes that aim to strengthen academic independent, and 2011 it held its 11th successful PSU. institutions.

Table 1: SPARK’s Higher Education Projects and Programmes

Project / programme title Location Period Total Programme Budget

International Business College Mitrovica Kosovo 2009-2013 € 15,5 million

Mitrovica Youth Programme Kosovo 2009-2011 € 0,7 million

Scholarship Database for Western Balkan Students Western Balkan countries 2009-2011 € 17,998 16 ■ International Business College Mitrovica

Target group: Youth in Kosovo aged 18+ Total project budget: € 15,534,803 (2008-2013) Financed by: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark, The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Embassy in Belgrade, The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in Pristina (construction of the campus in Mitrovica South) Partners involved: Lillebaelt, Tietgen and SPACE network Project duration: 2009-2013 (this was the original project duration; currently contracts for 2012-2014 are being negotiated / signed)

Project Description and Goal: The IBCM is an internationally registered not-for-pro t educational foundation. It was established by SPARK with donations from SIDA, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The IBCM offers EU licensed 2-year higher vocational double diplomas, and the possibility to expand this to double Bachelor degrees in Public Administration and Business Studies.

Countries of operation - Kosovo 17 possibility to expand this to double Bachelor degrees in Public Administration and Business Studies.

All courses are taught in English by quali ed teaching staff. The IBCM aims to improve employability through study programmes with a heavy focus on practice and skills, as well as to facilitate graduates to start their own enterprises. During the rst, introductory semester of their studies, students attend a general programme which contains courses on Economics, International Marketing and Sales, European Studies and Communications in Management. Thereafter, students opt for a specialization either in Marketing and Management, Environmental and Agricultural Management, or Public Adminstration.

IBCM’s overall objectives are: 1. To create a sustainable truly inclusive higher vocational institu- tion (the College), producing young professional civil servants and busi- ness leaders in the Mitrovica region used to work in multi-ethnic teams for Kosovo, regional as well as European markets. 2. To assist Kosovo on its path to EU integration by providing modern education/training and curricula in doing Business with the EU and training (future and existing) civil servants for EU integration. 3. To bridge the deep ethnic divide in the divided town of Mitrovica, leading to gradual normalisations of relations and reduction of the high inter-community tension.

This priority project of the Kosovo Government is supported by key stakeholders in the Serbian community in Mitrovica and Belgrade. Besides catering to regular full-time students, it offers in-service training for public of cials and staff of businesses and NGOs. The college promotes equal opportunities for all communities and has an active gender policy.

A Transitional Year Programme (TYP) prepares students from socio- economic disadvantaged groups to meet entry-requirements and schol- arships help them nancially to enrol in the programme. As all students study in English, the network created will pay-off when they enter the labour market, and start to act as liaisons between communities. It is at IBCM Building present the only post-secondary inter-ethnic educational institution in 18 Kosovo and one of the most successful international efforts to include the Kosovo Serbian community in North Kosovo. Graduates will not only possess necessary skills needed by businesses and public institutions; the strong international (EU) orientation of the college prepares them for European accession.

IBCM’s overall results are:

The number of students enrolled at IBCM has steadily been increasing:

#Students Enrolled at IBCM

March 2010 September 2010 September 2011

20 100 158 As a result, the teaching staff also increased, numbering 18 lecturers (11 full-time, 7 part-time). Additionally, a total of 11 core administrative staff were under contract.

IBCM Class 19 Teaching currently takes place in temporary locations, both in North and South Mitrovica. The construction of permanent IBCM buildings is expected to commence in 2012. However, with the current funds pledged, the original foreseen budget is not yet complete and, in 2011 SPARK wrote a new revised proposal for IBCM 2011-13. In 2011 SIDA and DANIDA were approached to extend their funding to the second phase.

Both campuses opened a Career Center in May 2011, aiming to assist students in nding internship placements in businesses and government insti- tutions, and to organise job-orientated trainings. The centre also organises an annual job-fair, where potential employers and other stakeholders are invited to the college. SPARK (supported by the Dutch MFA, UNDP and the European Commission) has supported the establishment of a network of six Business Start-Up Centres throughout Kosovo that assist young entrepreneurs in establishing and growing their businesses.

After graduation ( rst group will graduate in March 2012), students become members of the Alumni Programme run by the alumni-of ce, a compo- nent of the Career Center. This strengthens the link between college and graduates working in businesses and public administration, thus providing another source for internships and employment for college students. Alumni are requested to contribute to the college scholarship fund and create a strong network between the different communities. In the end, alumni are the most important ambassadors for future enrollment.

SPARK has been working on the issue of diploma recognition in several ways. First of all, the selection of a double degree partner will enable gradu- ates to apply for nostri cation in Serbia. Secondly, SPARK has been contracted by the EU Mission to implement the university diploma agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, through which also IBCM diplomas can be recognised after the IBCM is licensed in Kosovo. Finally, the accreditation by EVALAG will be recognised by the Kosovo Accreditation Agency, expected latest September 2012.

The Transitional Year Programme (TYP), where prospective students can improve their English language skills has had 3 graduations thus far. The programme has proven to be a popular choice for applicants to the IBCM; out of 158 students in 2011, 76 were enrolled in the TYP. It proves to be a great promotional tool as it provided outreach activities in different geographical locations and as such assisted with the promotion and outreach of IBCM.

The promotion campaign of IBCM has been quite successful in 2011. Radio, television and SMS campaigns were set up. This resulted in over 1000 applications in the third year of IBCM.

Curricula and syllabi were developed for the two-year diploma programme by Lillebaelt Academy. They also submitted Bachelor programme outlines, but these will be further developed and used in the next phase. The library of IBCM has been partially stocked and access to electronic libraries has been attained. The library will be expanded and developed further in 2012. 20 On an organisational level SPARK has recruited an Advisory Board, Director and administrative and teaching staff and the IBCM is now fully staffed, with only relatively small recruitment required to absorb an increase in student numbers and for the start of the Bachelor programmes.

Evaluation A general satisfaction survey was done in May 2011. 76% of the students report they are either extremely satis ed or satis ed with their experience to date at IBCM. The remaining 24% report that they are neither satis ed nor dissatis ed. No student reported that they were dissatis ed or extremely dissatis ed.

In 2011 IBCM asked its students to ll in evaluation forms at the end of every semester, asking them to rate the quality of their courses. Four main aspects were evaluated: teaching process, course material, IBCM administration, and IBCM Facilities. The results of the evaluation were positive with very few discrepancies. The students from the North campus left more room than the South for improvement. For example, while the teachers were rated well on both their teaching and organisation, some students criticised the availability of course material. In its action plan, plans have been made to better organise the availability of the course books and to make the syllabi with all prescribed course material accessible on-line and up-to-date.

The phase 1 external evaluation of IBCM is planned for the spring of 2012.

21 ■ Mitrovica Youth Programme

Target group: Youth in Mitrovica Total project budget: € 700,937 Financed by: SMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Partners involved: University, Student Parliament, Jelena Anzujska, and Fractal Project duration: 2009-2011

Project Description and Goal:

The Mitrovica Youth Programme (MYP), of which Mitrovica Winter University (MWU) and Mitrovica Summer Courses (MSC) are the main components, aims to create a positive international learning environment, spur regional academic cooperation and improve the quality of higher education in the region.

New Students 22 The Winter University and Summer Courses serve as a platform for improving relations among students and staff from universities in South-eastern Europe, as well as other parts of Europe. They aim to introduce students and professors of the University to recent developments in the eld of the Europeanisation of higher education. The long-term goal is to build capacity to a degree where the University of Mitrovica can organise and run MWU and MSC independently. In 2011 only a Winter University was held.

The objective of the MYP is to improve the stability of Kosovo by improving the relations between the Kosovar Serbian and Kosovar Albanian academic communities and between these and the wider Southeast European (SEE) region. Secondly the programme accelerates the integration of the University of Mitrovica (UM) in the European Higher Education Area. Lastly the MYP will increase the sustainability of the MWU and MSC by embedding them in the University of Mitrovica (UM). The programme also supports the Bologna Reform Process, whereby quality assurance and the standards of academic degrees are lifted to a level compatible across Europe.

In addition to the MWU and MSC, the MYP also offers other programmes and activities; the European Integration and the Western Balkans Programme, the Student Mobility Manual, the Leadership Weekend, and this year a conference was held in support of the Bologna reform process.

■ Results

The 2011 Winter University received a large number of applications from students:

23 In order to ensure a maximum chance of success, students can take the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) refresher course, which was designed to enable them to use English effectively in the academic context that they would encounter at MWU.

Pre-MWU trainings were successfully organised by local NGO Jelena Anzujska. The highly interactive trainings were obligatory for all MWU partici- pants and it provided students with communication skills and experience with group work. This built the cohesion of the international and mixed group of students and made sure everyone would t well into the MWU concept. In line with SPARK’s security policy, the training also addressed intercultural communication in complex environments such as Mitrovica and discussed local sensitivities.

In 2011 an important step was taken towards the sustainability of MWU independently from SPARK. The project of ce and MYP Coordination Com- mittee were embedded in the University of Mitrovica. The university together with its Student Parliament took the leading role organising MWU 2011. The MWU team was fully up to speed on the organisation of the event and showed that SPARK has transferred the necessary knowledge and skills to the UM and the Student Parliament.

MWU Students Group 24 The European Integration and the Western Balkans programme provided training and workshops for 29 students. Furthermore 32 students partici- pated in the newly developed alumni programme. The courses were organised by SPARK’s partner Fractal in cooperation with the local NGO Centre for Civil Society Development. Out of the 29 students, the best 6 were selected for a study visit to the EU institutions in the Netherlands and Brussels. The students visited among other organisations: ICTY, NATO HQ, the European Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and SPARK.

The alumni network was actively involved in the promotion of lectures in Northern Kosovo and gave a presentation to fellow students from the University of Mitrovica.

In 2011 SPARK brokered cooperation between UM and the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF), advancing cooperation between the Universities of Pristina and Mitrovica. This proved to be very productive as it raised the issue of student mobility at UM and a “Student Mobility Manual” was realised by the joint effort of 8 regional universities including UM. A second publication called “Book of Memories” is in the process of being written. It is a collection of experiences of students studying abroad which will raise awareness on possible opportunities for UM students to study abroad.

Additionally a Leadership Weekend (LW) was organised in order to further develop the relationship between UM and UP. In 2011 the LW took place in March in Ohrid (Macedonia). 24 students from UM, UP and the wider SEE region participated. The best students from Mitrovica Winter and Pristina Summer Universities were selected to take part in this event. At the LW, the training was aimed at learning and developing leadership skills and knowledge on how to be an effective leader. The event was characterised by excellent communication between lecturers and students and it was a unique opportunity for students from UM and UP to meet and exchange their own views on current issues.

In 2010 a conference was organised in support of the Bologna reform process. From 11th to 13th March 2011 the conference was held for a second time and focused on the theme: “Students as Equal Partners in the Higher Education Process”. Around 40 student representatives participated in a two-day training following lectures given by various experts in the eld of higher education.

The aims of the conference were to: • Raise students’ awareness of their rights and responsibilities, as acknowledged in European Students’ Union (ESU) practice; • Raise students’ awareness of their rights and responsibilities, as acknowledged in the University and Faculty Statute; • Raise students’ awareness about student mobility and academic recognition; • Provide theoretical and practical knowledge about the Bologna Process and the role of students in the processes of higher education and; • Strengthen students’ suffrage, improve communication at the basic level and support the regular work of the Student Parliament. 25 In line with the recommendations and lessons learnt from the rst phase of the programme, the university and Student Parliament co- nanced 25% of the project. The long-term nature of the project is to bring about a quality improvement at the university.

■ Impact

The impact of the Mitrovica Youth Programme is signi cant. The many projects are designed so that students from different ethnic backgrounds and regions can come together to share a learning experience, but in the process also meet their peers and improve inter-ethnic relations.

“Two weeks at Mitrovica Winter University provided me with a greater understanding about Cultural Heritage and of the complex social dynamics of an identity-based regional con ict, while enhancing my perspective on the motivations, nationalistic tendencies, hopes, fears, perceived injustices, joys, hospitality, and dreams of the talented Serbian youth.” Jorge Marcano (31), Venezuelan participant of MWU 2011.

Through the large number of students from the wider SEE region, and integration of the UM in various regional and international networks, relations with the wider SEE academic community have been strengthened. This has also an impact on the speed at which UM is integrating into the European Higher Education Area. It has resulted in membership status in various networks and also EU funding opportunities such as Tempus and Basileus.

■ Success story

There were several remarkable achievements in 2011. The MWU is starting to make good use of new media in reaching potential students and has also included this in the MWU curriculum. There were more applications in 2011 than ever before, mainly because in addition to the of cial university channels, the event was also promoted on sites for young people. Marketing in a Digital Age was a new course during MWU and it proved to be a great success.

26 ■ Evaluation

Evaluation at MWU was carried out by an external evaluator who is present during the MWU and executes interviews with teaching staff, visiting and local professors, assistants, translators and SPARK’s staff. Furthermore, teaching staff report their experiences of the event through questionnaires. These ndings are then used to formulate an evaluation report that can be used for internal improvement. Overall, satisfaction with the event was high, with professors reporting that they appreciated both the organisation and the facilities available at the event.

The external evaluator found both strengths and weaknesses. Some of the strengths included the transfer of full responsibility of organising the Winter University to Mitrovica University and the dedicated and capable SPARK/UM staff. Some of the weaknesses included the lack of mature man- agement skills, involvement and dedication by the UM, and poor knowledge of the English language and comprehensive education of the local students.

The external evaluator recommended the need for strengthening the capacities of the University of Mitrovica, giving a list of ideas and actions that the management should take.

MWU Graduates 27 ■ Scholarship Database for Western Balkan Students

Target group: Young people from the Western Balkans who would like to study in the EU Total project budget: € 17,998 Financed by: King Baudouin Foundation Partners involved: Western Balkan Countries INCO-NE c/o Centre for Social Innovation Project duration: 2009-2011

Project Description and Goal:

Higher education and science will play a crucial role for Western Balkan countries in their accession to, and association with the European Union (EU). The transition of these countries – many of them new states on their way towards market-oriented democracies with strong civil societies – will require a highly-quali ed workforce and a changed mindset of the population, which needs to develop a new sense of belonging and a spirit of ownership and responsibility.

Education will be the key in developing the resources available to contribute to the integration of local, higher education systems into the European- Higher Education Area. Increasing the interests of students from the Western Balkans in studying abroad, as well as that of the EU to support these students to do so, is an integral part of the process. A study initiated by the King Baudouin Foundation, 'Student mobility in Western Balkan countries', highlighted the key problems that exist with West- ern Balkan student mobility into EU member states and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. Of the students interviewed that would not consider studying abroad, 51% cited insuf cient money as a very important reason. Similarly, even when students were considering studying abroad, 62.4% answered that not nding enough money was a big problem.

Students were asked to indicate what aspects could be improved. Of those considering studying abroad, 81.4% suggested more scholarships. For students not considering studying abroad, 58.6% responded that 'good and suf cient scholarships' was one of the main conditions to consider studying abroad. In the study, the majority of students interviewed would consider applying for a scholarship to study abroad. However, only one in three responders knew that scholarship opportunities exist. When asked in detail about European scholarships, less than 10% are aware of any speci c European scholarship and mobility schemes.

28 Based on these ndings, the King Baudouin Foundation commissioned SPARK to undertake research into scholarship opportunities that exist for Western Balkan students in EU member states and EFTA countries. The results of this research are shaped into this scholarship database. The schol- arship database contains information on a range of scholarships for Western Balkan students and researchers in European Union member states and EFTA countries.

■ Results

The scholarship database went online at the end of 2009 and has been available to students since. By pooling all scholarship information in one place, students have a much higher chance of nding the right scholarship, thereby facilitating student mobility. The database can be found at www.s4wb.eu.

In 2011 some changes were made to the scholarship database. An improvement was made to the search function on the database; now visitors can search the database by keywords and criteria. The database is also regularly adding new users and scholarships. In 2011 it had 65,000 registered visitors and 16,000 subscribed users. Students that have subscribed to the database can thereafter be contacted and/or informed on newer scholar- ships.

29 ■ 4.2 Private Sector Development

Promoting entrepreneurship is crucial to the reduction of poverty and to spurring economic development in fragile states. Through our Business Start-up Centres and local partners, we directly tackle poverty alleviation by offering business-skills training, coaching and consultancy, and access to nance for young entrepreneurs. By acting on market opportunities, entrepreneurs create and develop businesses that drive economic growth and provide necessary jobs.

We are devoted to empowering young people so that they can create businesses and increase their employability and position on the labour market. Job creation is crucial in post-conict areas, since large num- bers of underemployed people increase the fragility of a society.

Fragile states are marked by poor governance and de cient economic institutions. The unstable climate of fragile states affects society and state, and can result in a mutually unsustainable climate in which neither state nor society is able to escape from poverty and conict.

Economic insecurity is one of the main reasons that states remain trapped in a climate of poverty and conict. In such environments, several crucial links in the entrepreneurship development chain are often defunct or even missing. It is important to adopt a full chain approach as key to entrepreneurship development, supporting relevant (vocational) educational institutions, CSOs and governmental agencies, so that each can perform their respective roles in the creation of an enabling environ- ment for private sector development.

In 2011 SPARK was involved in a variety of private sector development projects and programmes. Several of these, including our current Enter- prise Development Programme, were built on MFS I, a previous programme that was nished in 2010. The results of this programme are MFS I results presented in the graph on this page. 30 Table 2: SPARK’s Private Sector Development Projects and Programmes

Project / programme title Location Period Total Programme Budget

Enterprise Development Programme (MFS II) Burundi, Rwanda, OPT, 2011-2015 € 21,3 million Liberia and Kosovo

Regional Private Sector Development in Southeat Europe B&H, Kosovo, Macedonia, 2008-2011 € 1,4 million Montenegro and Serbia

Support to Economic Development of Minority Communities Kosovo 2010-2012 € 0,5 million in Eastern Kosovo

Enterprise Development North Kosovo Kosovo 2010-2012 € 0,8 million

Business Start-Up Centre Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 2010-2011 $ 251,939

Bridging the Divide Kosovo 2010-2012 € 1,4 million

31 ■ Enterprise Development Programme (MFSII)

Target group: potential) individual entrepreneurs, business start-ups and established small and medium-sized businesses; Business Start-up & Development Centres and their local partners; Local and national policy makers, government representatives and other stakeholders. Total project budget: €21,347,600 Financed by: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, under MFS II Coalition partner: BiD Network Project duration: 2011-2015 Location: Burundi, Rwanda, Palestinian Territories, Liberia and Kosovo

Project Description and Goal:

In January 2011, SPARK and BiD Network – together forming the United Entrepreneurship Coalition (UEC) – launched their MFS II Enterprise Devel- opment Programme. By promoting entrepreneurship and job creation, this programme aims to contribute to the sustainable economic development of 5 post-con ict countries: Kosovo, the Palestinian Territories, Liberia, Rwanda and Burundi. It supports a range of private sector development projects that are carried out by the coalition’s Southern partner organisations, which include business associations, chambers of commerce, higher vocational schools and micro-nance institutions. Special attention is devoted to vulnerable groups and marginalised regions.

The programme rests on three pillars:

(1) Capacity building of local institutions by strengthening local partners. (2) Direct poverty alleviation through job creation by facilitating entrepreneurship through local partners. (3) Removing business barriers through policy making and advocacy, creating an enabling environment for private sector development.

Examples of concrete activities that constitute these pillars are the coaching and training of Southern partners’ staff on results-based management, supporting the organisation of Business Plan Competitions, and organising roundtables in which different stakeholders discuss the local business environment. 32 BiD Network, SPARK’s coalition partner in this programme, aims to stimulate entrepreneurship in emerging markets. It focuses on small and medium sized enterprises, supporting entrepreneurs in writing their business plans through coaching and providing feedback. The best entrepreneurs gain access to investors in BiD’s network.

Besides working closely together and with local partners, SPARK and BiD Network have established partnerships with six Dutch and American organ- isations specialised in entrepreneurship development: MDF, Triodos Facet, the Maastricht School of Management, Intent, the African Business Coun- cil, and Infodev. These organisations contribute to building the capacity of the local partners involved in the programme, by providing trainings on a wide variety of topics.

The organising of an annual Local Advisory Council (LAC) and Programme Advisory Council (PAC) was integrated into the setting up of the programme. In the LAC all national (Southern) partners meet annually to evaluate the Programme and discuss its strategic direction.

Representatives wait for the bus to go to Yes! Delft Incubator 33 Each Local Advisory Council elects one representative to attend an annual central meeting with the Board of Directors (PAC) where decisions are made on changes to the Programme as based on internal and external evaluations. Northern Cooperation partners are also represented with one representative in PAC. In 2011 these meetings took place for the rst time. The PAC was organised in the Netherlands and on the second day the representatives of the partners visited the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) in Rotterdam and the YES! Delft Incubator.

■ Results

Although start-up activities dominated 2011, some promising results have already been achieved.

As can be seen in the following graph, most targets were met or even exceeded.

Furthermore, in several countries the programme already contributed to successful nancial matchmaking introductions and the creation of businesses and jobs.

According to the set targets this was not expected to happen until 2012. In the remain- der of this section, the most important results in each country are described.

34 ■ Burundi

■ Local partners

Conseil Pour l’Education et le Développement (COPED), Réseau des organisations de Jeunes en Action pour la paix, la reconciliation et le développe- ment (REJA), Association des Femmes Entrepreneurs (AFAB).

SPARK discussed collaboration with TURAME and HOPE University. However, after discussing possible terms of cooperation it became clear that both universities had to prioritise other issues and would not be able to contribute to the project aims. By the end of the year, however, SPARK identi ed a strong university partner (Université Lumière), who had recently established a centre for entrepreneurship and was looking for opportunities to build its capacity and expand its activities.

■ Results

In Burundi the programme took some time to start up and become established. 2011 was a year of getting ourselves registered, setting up the of ce, hiring staff and contracting with local partner organisations, but we were also able to do some preliminary activities, needs assessments, capacity assessments and related management trainings with the partners. In addition to our overall SPARK activities, partners started to reach some results of their own. They held 4 roundtable sessions and stakeholder seminars between them, during which 12 lobby strategies were formulated, 112 entrepreneurs were trained and 154 participants attended networking sessions. Other activities included an assessment of 3 provinces for a location for a rural business incubator and developing the building plans for that incubator.

As civil war has just recently come to an end and civil conict is an ongoing issue, entrepreneurship and stability of small and medium businesses is somewhat of a new concept for development in Burundi. There has been much investment and focus on the micro-enterprise development, micro-credit and agriculturally focussed initiatives.

Overall this programme has been signi cantly contributing to awareness raising and promotion of entrepreneurship as well as fundamentally strengthening the organisations which provide support in those areas. Providing people with the resources and opportunity to establish and run their own business in Burundi is paramount to our activities. We are working to create a better environment for doing business, establishing networks and 35 business connections across the world and developing the ability of Burundian civil society organisations to better help their communities. This will not only change the lives of many, but hopefully the entire situation within the country.

■ Sucess story

With our partner AFAB, which supports female entrepreneurs, we have been working to establish the secretariat for the East African Women’s Exchange Network in Burundi and building templates for effective local business plan development and training. The establishment of the secretariat will allow much more publicity for the network within Burundi as well as easier access for local women to join and be involved.

Furthermore, 12 barriers for female entrepreneurship in the East African Community (EAC) were identi ed and action plans for removing these barri- ers were developed. The execution of these action plans will undoubtedly have a large effect on women’s ability to do business across the EAC.

36 ■ Rwanda

■ Local partners

National University of Rwanda (FEM-NUR), Junior Chamber International (JCI), Private Sector Federation (PSF), Umutara Polytechnic, Youth Employ- ment Systems (YES) Rwanda. ■ Results

Although SPARK had no track record in Rwanda before the start of the programme, a signi cant amount of training and coaching was delivered by SPARK’s of ce in this country. More than 50 days of training were given to local partners, country managers and project of cers on a variety of topics, including project proposal development, project management, reporting skills, entrepreneurship and budgeting.

SPARK is a member of the Agriprofocus group (APF) – a network of organisations engaged in Agribusiness development and the promotion of farm- ers’ entrepreneurship in developing countries. In May 2011 SPARK’s Rwanda country manager delivered three days of training for Agriprofocus’s district coordinators on agribusiness development and business communications, while in August 2011 he gave a presentation at a regional confer- ence on nancing value chains organised by APF.

Through SPARK’s training efforts almost 500 entrepreneurs were trained in 2011, while more than 2,000 Business Plan Competition proposals were accepted, showing both the necessity and the opportunities of Rwanda. The Enterprise Development Programme has also led to increased capacity of local partners to deliver Business Development Services to local entrepreneurs, which is expected to improve their understanding of market principals, as well as the management of small business by the local population. ■ Sucess story

The Umutara Polytechnic University, a local partner of SPARK Rwanda, established a Students’ Entrepreneurship Club (which has over 100 mem- bers), which organised the 2011 Business Plan Competition; the rst in Rwanda. 139 business ideas from both individual students and teams were submitted. A jury consisting of representatives from the rectorate, all ve faculties and the Coordination Of ce of the university, selected 13 best

37 plans, based on – among other things – the strength, relevancy and level of innovation and creativity of the business idea, the experience of the project team, and the number of employees the business will possibly create.

The 13 winning business plans are expected to create 73 new jobs. The activities of the new businesses include bird farming, transforming waste into charcoal, and offering garden and rental services. The winners will be mentored for one year by one of Umatara Polytechnic’s professors and receive nancial support from a recently created revolving fund. The seed capital that will be provided must be paid back between one and two years and will then be used to support new business initiatives.

National University Rwanda 38 ■ Liberia

■ Local partners

Local Enterprise Assistance Programme (LEAP), Business Start-Up Center Monrovia, Liberia Better Business Forum (LBBF) and the Association of Liberian Universities (ALU).

Lasemento Zoe Gaye BPC Winner 39 ■ Results

In 2011, BSC Monrovia’s capacity in Results-Based Management, Procurement, Project Management and Finance was improved. 2 staff members received IFC Business Edge Business Skills Training, while another was trained in Entrepreneurship Support at the Twente University in the Nether- lands. Throughout the year, BSC Monrovia staff also attended the Corporate Responsibility Forum & National Investment Commission, workshops on the Africa Market Place Development and the EPAG programme, a luncheon of UNESCO’s Media Business Sustainability programme, as well as a Local Supply Chain Development workshop organised by UNDP.

Other important results achieved in 2011 by BSC Monrovia are the organisation of a workshop with 115 participants to stimulate entrepreneurship, and the training - through Grand Bassa Community College trainers - of 18 junior students (28% females) during an internship the students were doing at the Brazilian multinational construction company Odebrecht for job placement. BSC Monrovia also organised a Business Plan Competition. It received 86 business ideas, selected 38 and trained and awarded 35 (11% females) certi cates in business skills (Business & Financial Planning, HR, Marketing, Customer Care and basic IT). ■ Sucess story

The Entrepreneurship Centre got approved and is now renovated, thanks to support from the University of Liberia, who provided space for the new premises. With this new IT training & resource centre, BSC Monrovia will be able to give the entrepreneurs all the support they need.

40 ■ Palestinian Territories

■ Local partners

Business Women Forum (BWF), Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce (FPCCIA), Center for Continuing Education (CCE), Center of Excel- lence (CoE), Islamic University of Gaza’s Business Technology Incubator (BTI). ■ Results

In the Palestinian Territories (PT) the MFS II Enterprise Development Programme builds on the activities initiated through a pilot programme that ran from June 2009 to December 2010 and led to the establishment of a Business Start-up and Pre-incubation Centre in Ramallah. In this pilot, SPARK supported the Najjad Zeenni Information Technology Centre of Excellence at Birzeit University in developing business opportunities within the fast growing IT sector. The Business Start-up Centre is working to provide promising Palestinian youth with the necessary skills and knowledge to become innovators in technology and successful entrepreneurs.

Since January 2011, SPARK has continued actively supporting the start-up and growth of businesses in the PT. The initial focus is on the IT and agricultural sectors - the rst being the fastest-growing sector of the Palestinian economy, and the second the largest. Since January, four local partners have already drafted plans to begin pre-incubation activities and offer support to entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses.

As of March 2011, the project involved three local partners, in addition to the original pilot programme partner, Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Birzeit University: The Centre of Continuous Education (CCE), also from Birzeit University, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce (FPCCIA) and the Busi- ness Women Forum (BWF). CCE has a strong record in developing training material and translating the needs of entrepreneurs into training programmes, while FPCCIA has a strong network of over 50.000 companies in both the urban as well as rural areas of the PT. BWF has accumulated signi cant experience in providing female entrepreneurs with company start-up support, and promotes female-run businesses.

The partners will develop a Advocacy Strategy that will focus on easing restrictions on starting or growing business in the PT. CoE has already collected useful knowledge and success tips from the pilot project, working hand-in-hand with the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy on developing a new law that facilitates the legal process of newly developed micro-enterprises.

In 2011 CCE started a mentorship diploma training for 19 participants, including 4 from among United Entrepreneurship Enterprise partner staff and SPARK staff. In total almost 500 entrepreneurs were trained over the course of the year and 4 new businesses were started. 41 ■ Sucess story

One of the highlights of 2011 was when Hayat Al Natsha (48) won a rst prize with her own developed game. It's a game she dreams will help every child in the Palestinian Territories in learning and forming Arabic words. Al Natsha, who sold her car in order to nance the printing of the rst edition of her game, earned First Prize for her invention in the Hebron Business Plan Competition at Polytechnic University, funded by SPARK.

The competition, funded by SPARK but organised by Polytechnic Univer- sity itself, was planned since May as part of SPARK's SME Development programme. BiD Network (SPARK's Cooperation partner in the SME programme) joined the awards ceremony, inviting entrepreneurs to submit their plans to the BiD Network. ■ Brilliant Failure

The CoE Business Plan Competition (BPC) allowed almost any applicants. As a result, established businesses run by former students were compet- ing against students with nothing but a business plan to offer. Inevitably, one such established company won the BPC.

Not only did it win the regional competition at Birzeit University, it also won the national competition. Moreover, the same team had won the BPC (with a different business idea) in the pilot phase in 2010! One team therefore had dominated these BPCs.

The BWF BPC also contained several perpetual applicants to similar initiatives by other donors. Therefore, in discussion with the partners, SPARK has decided to ensure that clearer application criteria are applied in 2012, separating established from non-established businesses, and disqualifying nalists from other BPCs. Hayat Al Natsha’s Game 42 ■ Kosovo

■ Local partners

Business Centre Zvecan (BC Zvecan), Business Start-up Centre Zenica (BSC Zenica), Fractal, STIKK, University of Mitrovica.

■ Results

In 2011 the programme in Kosovo resulted among other things in over 30 newly employed young people. In a country where it is very dif cult to nd a job this can certainly contribute to development and poverty alleviation. The 10 newly established SMEs and the support for the 15 already existing SMEs, has opened up the possibility for future development and growth. In the years to come this can lead to even more employment opportunities in Kosovo.

Moreover, 306 entrepreneurs were trained and received the opportunity to improve their knowledge and gain new business skills. SPARK believes that this type of vocational training will empower more and more potential and existing entrepreneurs to help themselves and by creating their own businesses. These training activities resulted in 53 business plans being approved by an expert jury. This number provides us with valuable informa- tion regarding the number of bene ciaries that already have the necessary capacities to start their own business and who might be able to assist in developing already existing SMEs. With the skills they gained from SPARK’s training activities they are ready to apply for loans and search for poten- tial investors in order to create or expand their businesses. This is proven by the fact that 13 starting and existing companies found nancial support through the Micro-Loan Facility of the NLB bank after participating in the MFSII Business Skills Training.

In addition to job creation and poverty alleviation, SPARK also strives for creating a good business environment by lobbying for removing barriers to entrepreneurship. In Kosovo 12 roundtable sessions were held at which all relevant stakeholders were present. The goal of these roundtable meet- ings was to identify the barriers to business in the region. To further this goal 2 lobby strategies were developed and research was conducted on the abolition of import tax for ICT equipment and a position paper was presented to the government and is expected to be approved by parliament in July of 2012.

43 ■ Regional Private Sector Development in Southeast Europe

Target group: National SME Agencies, Universities, Ministries of Economy and/or Trade, Chambers of Commerce, Business Associations Total project budget: € 1,447,296 Financed by: The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Embassy Belgrade Partners involved: National Ministries and SME Development Agencies, Universities, Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia Project duration: 1 Sept 2008 – 31 Dec 2011

Project Description and Goal:

The Private Sector Development programme (PSD) focuses on creating an enabling environment by bringing together various actors in the SME sector and by building their capacity to jointly tackle economic challenges on a regional level. By creating links between partners, it aims to develop business support and to improve the quality of and accessibility to different services in order to increase the chance of long-term success and sustainability. The project emphasises the entrepreneurial aspect of private sector development, as well as a regionalisation of economic and academic cooperation.

Private sector development in the Western Balkans is making progress. Both the IMF and the World Bank have repeatedly indicated that economic growth will primarily be achieved through regional economic collaboration. EU of cials stress that the future of the Western Balkans lies in enlarged and boosted regional cooperation, which can only be maximised if key national institutions work with their regional counterparts.

The aim is to strengthen partners’ capacities and incorporate stakeholders into the implementation of project activities; these can eventually run independently from SPARK at the completion of the project. Intended results include regionalisation of existing EU Days and Trade Fairs, the continu- ation of a regional Master’s Programme in Entrepreneurship at partner Universities and Partner Capacity Development programme implemented. In effect, establish business-government-academia partnerships and stimulate regional trade and economic development.

44 ■ Results

Within the project period, the Business Start-up Centre Kosovo (BSCK) held Business trainings and competitions resulting in 30 start-ups - 1,933 youth trained (301 from minorities), 20 BPCs were organised and 83 training modules were organised. A Business Start-up centre Kosovo is fully established and functional, and for this project period almost 2000 persons attended their trainings, with 39 support packages awarded to the best ones. BSCK also made headway securing their sustainability and signed new contracts with other donors in Kosovo such as USAID Kosovo Private Enterprise Programme, EC Liaison Of ce to Kosovo and Intercooperation.

The University of Novi Sad in Serbia began offering Master's Degrees in Entrepreneurship during the academic year 2009-2010 and has continued to do so through 2011. As UNESCO Chair for Entrepreneurial Studies, the University of Novi Sad hosts the Regional Master Studies in Entrepreneur- ship. Five regional partner universities - University of Pristina (Kosovo), University of Zenica (BiH), University of Tuzla (BiH), University of Podgorica (Montenegro) and University of Skopje (Macedonia) - participate in the programme by providing it with interested students.

For the Regionalisation of existing EU Days and Trade Fairs, several events were supported throughout this period strengthening regional links among stakeholders working on Private Sector Development. In all 6 regional events and 8 trainings were held. Some are mentioned below:

• The European Day of Entrepreneur conference was organised twice in Macedonia, once in 2009 and once in 2010, by the European Business Association (EBA). • Tuzla University and the Entrepreneurship Development Centre Association co-financed and event called The World Day of Entrepreneurshp in Tuzla in April 2010. • The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce organised the international conference SME Development in the Western Balkans in Mitrovica in May 2010. • The International Conference for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development (ICEIRD) was held in 2010 for the third time through the Novi Sad University. • The Technical Faculties of Belgrade University co-financed the Business and Technology Incubators as Instruments of Regional Development in November 2010.

In September 2011 nalisation of work started in 2004 was achieved by the of cial registration of a Southeast European Association of Agencies supporting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SEESME) in the Agency for Business Registers in Belgrade. Each of the founding members (Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro), SME agencies from the region, was asked and agreed to dedicate part of their own funds for future activities of the Association. 45 The SEESME is an outcome of a process that started when SPARK, with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, launched the rst regional informal Private Sector Development network in South-Eastern Europe, composed of representatives from governments, business sector and universities. The Business Base fair was the rst joint activity of the Association, and representatives from all founding member agencies were present.

For the Regional MA Programme and Bachelor Course in Entrepreneurship 24 students nished the MA Course (10 from Serbia, 3 from BiH, 5 from Montenegro and 6 from Macedonia). In 2009/2010, 9 students enrolled in the MA course in 2010/2011(7 from Serbia, 1 from Montenegro and 1 from BiH). An additional 11 students enrolled in 2011/2012 school year (all from Serbia). The MA is solely organised by Novi Sad University.

For the implementation of the Partner Capacity Development Programme, analysis of the current conditions and needs for capacity development led this component in two main directions:

Organising trainings – 7 were organised for partner representatives in the project period. The participants showed the most interest in developing EU project proposals. The capacity in autonomous development of project proposals differs between partners, since few of them were very (pro)active while others were lacking capacities for sound project development. Therefore, post training follow-up was conducted among partners to identify possible project opportunities and additional external consultancy services on particular project development were offered to partners. This second direction in developing capacities resulted in the development of 16 new proposals. Out of these, one is speci cally developed for the SEE SME Association.

And nally 6 different trainings were organised for partner institutions’ staff. The opportunity for receiving high quality tailor made trainings for their staff was highly appreciated by all the partners who have sent their representatives to the events, which gathered 103 representatives. In the light of constant reforms in the WB countries tailor made trainings proved to be signi cant. As an example, upgrading the SME agency of Serbia to a regional development agency handed a major mandate for the agency to manage. In such situations the priorities for competencies development are changing fast and thus the provider of capacity building must be exible. ■ Impact

After substantial effort, a mode for cooperation acceptable by the both sides was agreed between Pristina and Belgrade SME Agency to take part in establishing joint legal entity. On 21st July 2011, the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (state) Agencies from South East Europe was of cially established, and registered in the Belgrade Business Register on 16th September 2011. Founding members of the Association are SME agencies from Belgrade, Podgorica, Pristina and Skopje. The primary aims of this rst regional association of state agencies are to support regional 46 SME support and facilitate trade. SPARK mediated a model under which Kosovo has full direct participation and is in fact an of cial founding member of the association. As a rst result, the rst Kosovo SMEs participated in the annual State SME fair in Belgrade, 1st – 3rd December 2011. ■ Evaluation

The project was evaluated by an independent evaluator in July 2010, who concluded that establishing regional MA studies in Entrepreneurship will contribute substantially towards a greater understanding of entrepreneurship within a regional academic context and in the wider community in general. The logic of developing a speci c postgraduate course to address a perceived gap between graduates and future employability prospects is clear: students will become better equipped with the knowledge gained from the MA course, which will enable them to make informed decisions about either starting a business or which direction they want to take in future employment; employers will begin to understand and accept the value of what is being taught to MA students and its relevance to their speci c human resource needs; existing prejudices held in some quarters against business-related education are likely to disappear in time, once the overall bene ts are socially and economically perceived by all concerned. ■ Sucess story

From the 1st – 3rd December 2011 the 10th edition of Annual SME Trade Fair “Business Base (Biznes Baza)” was successfully held in Belgrade, Serbia. For the rst time since the end of hostilities in 1999, companies from Kosovo were present (Ask Foods, MDA, 3CIS and MV Lesak) as well as two of cials from the SME Agency from Pristina. It was also the rst occasion on which the work of a new regional association of SME Agen- cies (of which both Kosovo and Serbia are founding members) was presented. The annual business fair is organised by the National Agency for Regional Development from Belgrade which brings together a number of Business Base Fair Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to showcase their busi- nesses. For this year’s edition there were over 350 stall holders, mostly SMEs. 47 ■ Support to Economic Development of Minority Communities in Eastern Kosovo

Target group: minority communities, local authorities and potential and start-up SMEs Total project budget: €464,253 Financed by: European Union managed by EC Liaison Of ce to Kosovo Partners involved: Fractal Project duration: November 2010 – October 2012

Project Description and Goal:

The overarching objective of this programme is to create favourable conditions for development and support of SMEs in Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, Klokot/Kllokot, Ranilug/Ranillug and Štrpce/Shtërpcë municipalities, with Business Start-up Centres in Novo Brdo/Novobërdë and Štrpce/Shtërpcë. This will be achieved in period of 24 months through:

1. Development of municipal mechanisms for support of SMEs in target areas: Identify potential SMEs in each of the target areas and at the same time developing municipal SME strategies that will outline their future economic development. The strategies will indicate existing and potential areas of business development in each of the municipalities, include possibilities for creating more accessible Municipal services for existing and aspiring entrepreneurs, and highlight the main sectors of business development. Furthermore the strategies will establish development mechanisms for enabling growth of businesses and employment possibilities. To achieve this an understanding of the level of economic development in the target areas is needed, e.g. recognising the low capacity levels and experience of municipal of cials, making it important to support them in developing institutional mechanisms, which will provide quality support to the develop- ment and running of SMEs.

2. Development of sustainable SME support through Business Service Centres: Even though the project targets four municipalities, there will be only two Business Service Centres covering four municipalities in Eastern Kosovo with mobile teams that will visit businesses at least once every two weeks and provide assistance on the spot. Training of the staff will be undertaken by SPARK with support from FRACTAL, using experience gained in previous similar projects implemented in the region. For speci c trainings (technical issues, agricultural production, etc.), regional and local consultants will be used to train and support BSC staff through eld visits. 48 Trained staff will provide entrepreneurs with support in all aspects of running a business, nding premises and resolving other business related issues as they arise. To achieve this the BSCs can be partially funded by municipalities and partially by member SMEs, which will have received valu- able support in various business activities through coaching and mentoring, enabling them to increase ef ciency of their operations and their revenue.

3. Development of SMEs in the target areas through direct technical and nancial support: Establish a granting scheme to decrease unemployment levels and strengthen the production capacity of businesses and develop a sophisticated scheme to support eligible entrepreneurs with the equipment and machinery necessary to develop or establish sustainable businesses. Two to three grants, limited to €5,000 per business, will be distributed each year in each of the target municipalities, totalling twenty grants for the entire programme. Often good ideas fail due to lack of funding, potential or existing entrepreneurs prefer not to take risks with commercial loans for various reasons. Through this programme, well planned targeted assistance to eligible businesses by providing equipment or machinery, could initiate a positive chain reaction between locally interlinked businesses.

4. Networking and outreach: At the end of year one and two of the programme, a networking event will be organized for grantees. This event will be organised as a fair, and a large number of businesses and municipal representatives from Kosovo will be invited. This will provide networking opportunities for business people in the whole region but at the same time show the potential of the programme and that it can be implemented in other areas as well. With the support of Municipalities, events of this type can become a tradition, thereby potentially adding an extra dimension to the economic development and cross community cooperation of the region. ■ Results

The project achieved its overarching objective by contributing to the creation of favourable conditions for existing and potential entrepreneurs through the establishment of BSCs that helped them increase their capacities and assisted them in all aspects of business development. The follow- ing are the more speci c results:

• SMEs in the municipalities have access to improved services in accordance with the four SME strategies and decisions developed in coop- eration with Municipal structures, business sector and community leaders of the targeted areas and with support of external experts. Municipal mechanisms for development of the SME sector have been improved through capacity building training for relevant municipal of cials from depart- ments for economic development. The BSC’s staff monitors the implementation of municipal decisions on a regular basis and report on possible gaps. 49

• The two BSCs have been successfully established, while BSC mobile teams are covering three additional municipalities (Klokot/Kllokot, Ranilug/Ranillug and Partes/Partesh). Skilled BSC staff are there to support the development and running of SMEs in the targeted areas. The BSC staff have been trained by local and regional experts on a variety of business skills such as business plan writing, SMEs management, business com- munication, tax and business registration, raspberry production (which is one of the project’s success stories). Due to its success there is now inter- est to expand areas planted with raspberries, which has been given the highest priority in agriculture production in SME’s development strategy in Strpce/Shterpce Municipality. Another function undertaken by the BSC staff is to conduct regional information meetings on the programme details and granting possibilities.

With the aim to encourage entrepreneurship and to improve the capaci- ties of existing businesses, BSCs organised the Summer School of entre- preneurship, with 85 participants coming from the targeted municipali- ties.

• Ten SMEs in targeted areas have been strengthened through the granting scheme and hands on consultancy/coaching has been provided by BSCs; five are existing businesses and five are start-up businesses. The Business Plan Competition was organised in order to allocate the first round of grants to support eligible businesses with equipment and machinery needed to start/expand their activities or establish eligible enterprises.

During the first year, 2-3 business plans of eligible entrepreneurs were selected in each targeted municipality by an independent jury composed of local business experts and/or successful entrepreneurs, loan officers at microfinance institutions, RDA representatives with knowledge about local market and overall municipal development strategy and goals. The programme made efforts to identify businesses that can be replicated throughout all four municipalities.

• 20 new jobs will be created in supported SMEs through the granting scheme. Each of the grants allocated to SMEs in 2011 had as a Raspberry Farmer requirement: job creation. For the full grant, 2 full-time positions need to 50 be created and contracts signed with previously unemployed skilled individuals from their communities. The nalisation of the Individual Grant Agreements and its implementation plans are still ongoing. ■ Evaluation

The project has multiple methods to evaluate its results and impact. One method is trainer and participant evaluations, which were held after every term. In addition to this, open question evaluation forms have been lled by BSC coordinators and recommendations for the next year have been drafted. There were 85 participants of a BST and almost all highlighted the good organisation, their satisfaction with the trainers/experts and expressed willingness to participate in future trainings organised by BSCs. Recommendations were made regarding the duration of the training, which have been taken into consideration for future activities. Another method is evaluation questionnaires to determine the effectiveness of Busi- ness Plan Competitions. Participants are still in the process of being interviewed.

51 ■ Enterprise Development North Kosovo

Target group: Potential and existing entrepreneurs from North Kosovo, active jobseekers (school leavers and unemployed) and vulnerable groups Total project budget: € 797,950 Financed by: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Partners involved: Business Advisory Centres in Mitrovica South, Mitrovica North and BC Zvecan Project duration: 2010 - December 2012

Project Description and Goal:

The Enterprise Development programme in North Kosovo aims to boost the development of new and existing small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the region, thereby contributing to direct poverty alleviation through the strengthening of businesses and creation of jobs. SPARK is the implementing partner with an established track record in providing start-up packages including nancial support to young entrepreneurs. The UNDP of ce in Pristina and SPARK Mitrovica will implement a micro- nance scheme in the areas of Mitrovica South/North and Zvecan in order to support the overall economic development of the region.

After the successful establishment of the Business Advisory Centres (BAC) within the three target areas, further intervention will ensure sustainability of this initiative and increase trade and economic activity within the region. According to various studies, the economic situation in Mitrovica is dire. Youth unemployment is extremely high and SME development is hampered by political uncertainty, lack of rule of law, absence of vocational busi- ness development training and dif cult access to nance for SMEs with growth potential. The credit that is available for SMEs is very expensive (with an interest rate of up to 25%) and is extended only to rms with a solid credit history. To address this issue three Business Advisory Centres (BACs) have been established with support of the UNDP and SPARK. These centres have offered vocational business training. As a follow-up the issue of access to credit is to be addressed by the establishment of a credit fund, to be implemented by a registered banking institution.

The overall objective is to support potential and current entrepreneurs to become (more) successful in doing business and to support their future development with an incubator and tailor made support (coaching, on the job training). Another purpose of the programme is to improve the employ- ability of jobseekers, notable young people, long-term unemployed persons and disadvantaged persons, by means of a comprehensive system of training responsive to labour market needs. These two types of trainings (entrepreneurship and employability) are aiming at two distinct target groups, which should be, and are, treated separately. 52 ■ Results

7 main results can be highlighted for 2011: 1. To reaf rm the cooperation between SPARK and the BACs, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by SPARK and each of the BACs, covering the period from January 1st till June 6th 2011. The BACs had to each organise trainings for 15 participants and assess their business plans. In June 2011 BAC staff attended the Training of Trainers to further increase their own capacities.

2. All three business advisory centres organised and completed the Business Skills training for their bene ciaries. Out of the total 45 planned participants for the Business Skills Training 41 successfully completed the training more than 50% of which were female (22 participants). The participants that successfully completed the trainings have received certi cates. Staff of all three Business Advisory centres have completed the Business skills training/Training of trainers in order to increase their capacities and have more success in future activities.

3. Overall there were far more than 15 business plans developed:

BAC Total Female Male

Mitrovica South 23 12 11

Mitrovica North 6 2 1

Zvecan 13 3 10

4. BACs have created an active data base. BAC Mitrovica South submitted an SMEs database with over 4500 companies that are active in the region south of the Ibar River. BAC Mitrovica North submitted a database with over 700 companies that are active in the region north of Ibar River. BAC Zvecan submitted a database with 211 companies that are active in the Municipalities of Zvecan, Leposavic, ZubinPotok and Lesak. The data- base was created in order to increase business and trade linkages between South and North Mitrovica and Zvecan, by promoting the development of inter-community business proposals implemented by the BACs.

5. As part of the effort to increase the capacities of the BACs, study visits to three regional Business Centres in Novi Sad, Bar and Kragujevac were organised. BAC staff were able to see how their colleagues in other Business centres have implemented similar projects and could exchange experiences. 53 4 people from BAC Mitrovica North went on a 2-day study tour organised by the BAC called the “Business incubator Novi Sad”. The topics discussed were: capacity building, management and consultancy services. BAC Mitrovica South organised a 2-day study tour to BSC Bar where the topic covered was “Opportunities and obstacles for the development of establishments in the Western Balkans”. (BAC Zvecan did not organise a study tour.)

6. Signed agreement with the NLB Bank Pristina for the implementation of the micro-credit component of the project.

7. As was planned, three BPCs were organised in Mitrovica North/South and Zvecan with public calls made through the local radio and TV station (newspaper as well in the rst call). After BP applications were submitted, a jury selected the ones to be recommended to the NLB Bank, who then needed to approve the applications and then give the loans.

# Approved # Applicants refusing due to Public Call # BPs #Selected by Jury by NLB Bank short repaying period

1st : October 21 12 12 5

2nd : November 12 10 10 3

3rd : December 17 15 - -

Due to the December holidays the NLB Bank was not able to assess the received BPs of the 3rd call before the end of 2011. For the rst call 4 loans were disbursed by the bank by the end of 2011 and for the second call 2 loans.

After the completion of the rst two public calls the results were analysed during the UNDP-SPARK monthly meeting. Both sides agreed that the number of submitted and approved business plans is lower than expected. Two major reasons were pointed out: short repayment period and political/security situations in the North. As the 3rd public call was planned in January we realised that we can expect even lower number of applications due to the short repayment period. In order to try to avoid this it has been decided to divide the 3rd public call into two parts: one has been organised in December and the second one was planned for January. ■ Evaluation

Evaluation of results is still a little premature at this point, as the project was still in its establishment phase in 2011. Business plans by participants are still in development and a tender for credit facility has been submitted to banks but not fully realised. 54 ■ Business Start-up Centre Zimbabwe

Target group: Young ambitious people between 20-40 years with a business idea or with a (informal) company < 1 year (Students of the Blackfordby College for Agriculture, Clients of the partnering Bank: e.g. clients that received a $ 1000 micro-credit and want to expand their micro business, as well as small agro-business clients, staff of partners) Total project budget: $ 251,939 Financed by: Stichting DOEN, SPARK, Blackfordby College of Agriculture, CBZ Bank Partners involved: Blackfordby College of Agriculture, CBZ Bank Project duration: 1st Dec 2010 – 1st Dec 2011

Project Description and Goal:

This pilot project envisaged the establishment of the Business Start-up Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe (BSCZ) by local private sector partners with the assistance of SPARK. The BSCZ will offer training, coaching and access to nance to ambitious entrepreneurs with viable business plans. The principle aim is to create jobs, and to stimulate the local SME sector as the motor of the economy.

Harare Business Centre 55 The objectives of the project were the following:

- To establish a BSC in Zimbabwe, using the expertise and knowledge of the private sector partners; - To assist potential entrepreneurs to start their own business through a training scheme combined with a business plan competition and start-up support in the form of soft-loans, and mentoring; - To increase business skills (and employability) of young potential and existing entrepreneurs; - To (re)generate the entrepreneurial spirit amongst youth in Zimbabwe

During the period January – March SPARK together with its partners had prepared the establishment of the BSC Zimbabwe, which was ready to be formalised by April/May 2011. In that same period a business skills training curriculum had been developed, and was ready to be instructed to Zimbabwean business skills trainers of the Blackfordby College, CBZ and other corporate partners. However, SPARK in consultation with DOEN decided to put the project on stand-by due to unforeseen dif culties. The lacking readiness among all envisaged partners to formalise their participa- tion prevented the project to actually hold the training of trainers, nalise full BSCZ registration with all partners and deliver a nalised activity plan for the continuation of the project.

During the second phase of this initiative SPARK and Blackfordby College of Agriculture (BCA) agreed on organising a training of trainers for BCA trainers and training staff of corporate partners such as CBZ Bank ready to continue project activities, using the modules developed during the rst phase. The business skills training modules included, among other topics, agri-business plan development, market research, marketing & sales, book keeping etc. and were fully incorporated into the existing curricula of BCA. The second phase also included the teaching of the modules to BCA students. SPARK continues to explore opportunities to support young ambitious entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe.

56 ■ Bridging the Divide

Target group: The project consists of three separate components, each with selected target groups. Bene ciaries range from local institutions and NGOs (through capacity building measures), citizens of Mitrovica as a divided town (municipal infrastructural upgrades, unbiased public information, inter-ethnic dialogue) to youth in the age of 12-20. Total project budget: € 1,412,383 Financed by: Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Partners involved: NGO Community Building Mitrovica (CBM) as implementing agency and local NGOs registered under CRYM (Centre for Resources, Youth and Media) Project duration: 2010-2012

Project Description and Goal:

After the declaration of independence for Kosovo in 2008, the division of the northern Kosovo frontline city of Mitrovica into a predominantly Serbian North and Albanian South has become more prominent and is affecting all communities living on both sides of the Ibar River. Being divided both physically and institutionally in separate municipalities that fail to communicate between themselves, they face further instability, insecurity and disintegration in a city already scarred by conict. Issues such as lack of institutional and civil inter-ethnic cooperation or communication between the two sides, lack of objective local media, little positive after-school activities and cultural events for youth undermine all efforts to bridge the divide between the communities on the two sides of the Ibar River.

Even the most obvious agent of positive change – the Civil Society Organisation community – is plagued by fragmentation, internal competition and a lack of appropriate facilities for joint action, severely limiting its synergy and impact. This has resulted in broad community distrust of the NGO community, which is perceived as donor-driven rather than serving community needs. These needs, consequently, remain grossly ignored, to the detriment of the community, especially the city’s largest demographic group, the youth, who lack positive after-school activities, cultural events and employment opportunities. The lack of these facilities further increase social isolation, paci cation and political radicalisation, which are spurred on by boredom, general dissatisfaction and wide-spread cynicism.

A unique cooperation between the South Mitrovica-based CSO Community Building Mitrovica (CBM), newly-established inter-ethnic, bilingual multi- medium ‘M-M@G’ and a North Mitrovica coalition of seven CSOs gathered in the Centre for Resources, Youth and Media (CRYM). The project directly 57 addresses problems and opportunities related to infrastructure, media, civil society development, youth care and the lack of institutional and civil inter-community cooperation.

The “Bridging the Divide” project aims to bring about community stabilisation and reintegration by concentrating on three pillars:

• Implementation of highly visible, high-impact, infrastructural interventions on both sides of the divide. With these interventions being closely aligned with the priorities of local authorities and communities, and being selected by a board representing them, the project will facilitate a rudimentary form of cooperation between local communities, CSOs and local municipal institutions, while bringing much-needed and tangible results to citizens on both sides of the Ibar River. • Establishment of ‘M-M@G’, a modern monthly webzine with an ethnically-mixed editorial team focusing on relevant investigative and social journalism and aiming to provide objective, solution-oriented information geared towards spanning the divide. Establishment of a bilingual Youth Portal (‘Mi:2’), closely connected to the radio station ‘Kontakt Plus’ and the Centre for Resources, Youth and Media (CRYM), focusing on issues relevant to especially the youth of Mitrovica aiming to not only inform but also activate and empower them, while also opening up a channel that supports and publishes aspiring young journalists.

CRYM – Youth playing football 58 • Establishment of a vibrant CRYM aiming to integrate and empower a fragmented NGO community towards a strong, active, resource- pooling, synergetic and accountable local civil society, driven by local needs rather than donors. CRYM will provide a newly-formed coalition of local CSOs with adequate premises to strengthen their organisations, increase their capacity, and facilitate their joint outreach and impact while incorpo- rating a multi-ethnic open youth centre that includes a rock school, youth club and informal educational and cultural programmes. ■ Results

The project was scheduled to start in June 2010 but, due to local complications (elections, turnover in the management of local counterparts, clashes and tension), was rescheduled to September 2010. By the end of 2010, a General Coordinator for the Bridging the Divide programme had been appointed. Work on the refurbishment of the new CRYM building commenced in 2010 and was eventually inaugurated on 25 March 2011.

With the three main pillars in mind, three main results can be outlined thus far: 1. As part of the infrastructure component, reconstructions and renovations of several infrastructural establishments implemented on both sides of the Ibar River took place: o Reconstruction of façade on housing building in Kralja Petra Street in Mitrovica North; o Renovation of façade on housing buildings on central city square, Mitrovica South; o Renovation of three sport playgrounds and two parks in Mitrovica North; o Rebuilding of the sport playground in Elementary School in SuhoDoll/Suvi Do; o The works related to the Electrical Works and Construction of the Electric Network of the Public Lightening ( P.L. ) in “Kroi i Vitakut/Brdjani”, Mitrovica North; o Premises for Public Use, next to Orthodox Church have been finalised and completed.

The work on the infrastructural component of the “Bridging the Divide” has visibly contributed towards increased cooperation between the imple- menting agency NGO ‘Community Building Mitrovica’ (CBM) and the municipality and other stakeholders in Mitrovica North allowing more room for further cooperation.

2. The M:M@G webzine and the Mi:2 portal have been established and are updated on a continuous basis. Generally, the coverage of different events and developments related to the social issues in Mitrovica region is quite evenly distributed, for example, health, youth and economy. As part of capacity building aiming to transfer more knowledge and build up skills on professional journalism and the role of the media in the society/community, training activities for young journalists and photographers took place and included trainings on journalism and photography skills. 59 3. A progressively multi-ethnic open youth centre within CRYM was established and includes a rock school, youth club for children and youth from the North, while also opening up a channel for coordination, collaboration and cooperation between 7 local NGOs that run it. The Youth Centre regular activities vary from movie nights to concerts, and a CRYM web-site is in the process of development. A network and a platform for business companies - from both sides of Mitrovica - to interact and cooperate with each other was created as a result of the project as during the site visits, companies from North and South came together and established contact between each other and in some cases started to cooperate with each other.

CRYM – Masked Ball 60 ■ Evaluation

CBM has been the implementing agency for the project, supported by SPARK’s institutional capacity building, whereby improvements in budgeting, reporting and organisational issues have been obtained. Similar efforts in capacity building have been made with regards to the CRYM Board and other institutions involved. The process of evaluation takes place against the timeline and results set during the project planning phase are re-evaluated regularly on the basis of progress made.

The infrastructural improvements made as part of the project were evaluated by an evaluation commission comprised by the Supervisory organ, a member of municipality (south and north), Representative from the Dutch Embassy, SPARK, and 'Bridging the Divide' project executive coordinator which con rmed the technical acceptance and successful nishing of the works.

The staff of M:M@G and Mi:2 works closely and continuously communicate with CBM, supported by SPARK. The coordinator of M:M@G, coordinator of Mi:2 and 'Bridging the Divide' project coordinator meet regularly to discuss the progress of the project.

Meetings of CRYM members take place once a week. NGO CBM and SPARK evaluate the progress of the CRYM component by means of being pres- ent, observing and participating in all meetings.

61 4.3 Research

As part of SPARK’s desire to develop its own capacity to deliver services, SPARK has recognised the importance and need for research. In 2011 we began a new venture into the domain of research with a research project on youth exclusion, conducted in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Table 3: SPARK’s Research Project

Project / programme title Location Period Total Programme Budget

World Bank research on youth exclusion Liberia and Sierra Leone 2011-2012 $ 72,780

■ World Bank research on youth exclusion

Total project budget: $ 72,780 Financed by: World Bank Partners involved: Making Enterprises, a group of researchers we formed ourselves Project duration: July 2011 – March 2012

Project Description and Goal:

Violence is a topic that has received more and more attention in the development literature. When violence takes the form of civil war, development can be set back decades, and post-con ict societies experience extreme difculty reaching a sustainable route to growth and stability. Cases in point are the two West African countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Although for both civil war has ended, levels of violence are high in these countries and their development. The World Bank has proposed a study into the use of violence by "excluded youth" in these two countries. In particular the Bank would like to investi- gate a link between feelings of exclusion and the use of violence in youth. ■ Results

In 25 communities data has been collected by 25 respondents in individual and focus groups interviews. The collected data will be analysed by the World Bank in Washington. 62 4.4 SPARK as Part of a Consortium

While SPARK headed several projects in 2011, it also took on the role of partner in other projects; providing assistance in the form of for example advice, proposal writing and assisting in implementation. The following section consists of projects in which SPARK was part of the consortium (budget re ects the budget available for SPARK during the project).

Table 4: SPARK as Part of a Consortium Higher Education

Project / programme title Location Period Budget

“I don’t need a parachute... to land in Europe!” Romania (Western Balkans) 2011-2012 € 195,896

Private Sector Development

Project / programme title Location Period Budget

Visually Impaired Persons Business Support Programme Moldova 2009-2012 € 32,730

Youth Entrepreneurship Civil-Public Partnership Serbia 2011-2012 € 129,319

Young Employed and Independent Serbia 2011-2013 € 206,960

Hanga Umurimo Rwanda 2011-2012 € 60,000

Job search, basic managerial skills, work efciency skills, Liberia 2011 $ 2,925 attitude, behaviour and ethics and basic IT skills

63 ■ “I don’t need a parachute... to land in Europe!”

Total project budget: € 195,896 Financed by: PRINCE 2010 – EU27 Partners involved: Lead Partner: Fundatia Corona Iasi Project duration: 1st Dec 2011 – 30th Sept 2012

Project Description and Goal:

The goal of this project is to inform EU citizens about the current enlargement of the EU towards the Western Balkans and to promote tolerance by stimulating direct and indirect contacts between young people from both areas.

The project intends to familiarise people from EU member states with the bene ts and challenges of the current EU enlargement and to present the contemporary reality of candidate and potential candidate countries. It does so by implementing an awareness raising campaign and a contest. The project also intends to promote tolerance and understanding between young people by organising a summer school and inviting participants from EU and Balkan countries.

On one side the initiative will provide youth from the Western Balkan region (18-30 years old) the possibility to interact and establish connections and to present their country and customs. On the other side, young people from the EU will have the opportunity to meet people from the Western Balkans, to nd out their expectations from EU integration and to present their own country’s experience. ■ SPARK’s Involvement

In order to achieve this goal SPARK will help to organise awareness campaigns through the Internet as an instrument for selecting EU ambassadors and participants for a summer school that will be organised and run by the project. SPARK will assist in the selection procedure. The theme will be EU Enlargement: The Western Balkans and the agenda will comprise of information related to EU history, economy and policies (economic, political and cultural aspects). And nally the project will also run the EU Ambassador Campaign, which will require the 100 participants to the summer school (who will become EU Ambassadors) to inform 10,000 people from their respective countries about the bene ts and risks of EU enlargement. 64 ■ Visually Impaired Persons Business Support Programme, Moldova

Target group: Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) between 16-30 years old, with secondary education, basic computer and business administration skills Total project budget: €32,730 Financed by: Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Matra Partners involved: Lead Partner: Bartimeus International. Other Partners: BiD Network Project duration: 1 November 2009 – 31 October 2012

Project Description and Goal:

Nine thousand Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs) in Moldova are in living conditions that are below minimum standards. They are not seen as part of society and are unable to improve their situation by increasing income. Today, only about 8% of VIPs are employed and earn an income. The human capital of VIPs remains unused for a contribution to the development of Moldova and provisions for self-employment for handicapped have not been developed. Employers do not hire VIPs, despite legislation enforcing companies to hire disabled people, choosing instead to pay the imposed nes.

The Visually Impaired Persons Business Support Programme in Moldova aims to improve the position of VIPs by developing a supportive, sustainable organisation for blind individuals in Moldova to expand their professional potential and abilities. To this end an NGO will be established responsible for the evaluation of the business environment and the support of VIPs starting their own businesses through training, monitoring and rendering services of assessing business plans of individual and collective clients as well as linking them to business partners and credit facilities.

The NGO will create a limited liability company (SRL). This operational executive body will lead VIPs directly to employment and will participate in potential SMEs run with or by VIPs. The SRL will encourage its participation to those SMEs working on environmentally friendly products and services. The SRL will be a limited liability company because it is a 100% subsidiary company of the NGO. At the end of the programme, a pilot will be nalised with the following outcomes: VIPs will be guided to work and are (self-) employed.

In 2011 VIP Business Support Moldova organised its rst round of training and support to VIPs. In 2011 a new NGO was established, the SRL will start in March 2012. So far the programme has resulted in 11 VIPs nding a job and 5 visually impaired persons have even set up their own SME. 65 ■ SPARK’s Involvement

The role of SPARK in the project is to exchange knowledge of trainers in setting up small and medium-sized enterprises by VIPs. VIPs will be assisted in setting up business plans for their own SMEs, and subsequently be trained by the NGO. From 27th – 29th April 2011 SPARK, BiD Network and BSC Bitola organised a training for the programme staff of the VIP programme. The training programme consisted of information on how to establish a Business Support Centre, how to organise a Business Plan Competition and how to engage VIPs, as well as of a workshop on how to present, pitch and coach. The three day programme closed with a session devoted to evaluation, lessons learnt and indentifying the next steps in the VIP programme. ■ Evaluation

The target of the programme was to help 20 VIPs to start their own business. So far only 5 have done so. For the rst round of training 36 VIPs were selected for an entrepreneurial skills evaluation and 14 of them were selected for a 5-day training in business planning. This training has not yet been evaluated by the bene ciaries while feedback about the organised activities is essential. Recommendations have been made by SPARK to execute surveys among both selected and rejected VIP bene ciaries.

VIP training of programme staff 66 ■ Youth Entrepreneurship Civil-Public Partnership

Total project budget: € 129,319 Financed by: EU Support to Civil Society Partners involved: Lead Partner: Business Start-Up Centre Kragujevac Other Partners: Regional City of Kragujevac, NGO Sunce Project duration: 29th June 2011 – 29th June 2012

Project Description and Goal:

The project supports the development of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Serbia and their active participation in socio-economic development and the EU integration process. It also promotes youth entrepreneurship as an instrument of youth employment and sustainable socio-economic development. This project further aims to improve local socioeconomic development, through the transfer of EU standards and best practices of CSOs involvement in youth entrepreneurship policy making processes at the local level (Sumadija and Pomoravlje region).

Speci c subthemes and results to be achieved are: • Increasing youth employment: this action specifically addresses the problem of undeveloped youth entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is providing an additional way of integrating youth into changing labour markets, and could thus become a strong generator of youth employment; • Enhancing expertise of CSOs in the field of socioeconomic development: the aim is to improve the current low level of CSOs’ capacities, through partnershipd with EU CSOs and transfer of know-how and best practices from the EU through speci c trainings initiatives and study visits; • Ensuring public participation in decision-making processes on measures and programmes with potentially significant socio-economic impacts through involvement of all relevant stakeholders, including youth and local communities, in the development of local action plans on youth entrepreneurship. ■ SPARK’s Involvement

The services provided in order to achieve these results include: • The establishment of a local civil-public partnership as an example which will be further promoted to other municipalities in the region • Development of a youth entrepreneurship local action plan (YELAP) through a consultation process with government youth representatives, authorities and the business sector. 67 • Capacity building of CSOs and informal youth groups in entrepreneurship

SPARK organised for 16 Serbians from various organisations to visit the Netherlands in November 2011. The group included representatives from Serbian NGOs, Entrepreneur Associations, youth offices, non-formal youth groups and the Krugajevac municipality. The group, all dedicated to supporting youth entrepreneurship in Central Serbia, came to see how the Dutch support young entrepreneurs. Additionally, the visit gave these representatives the opportunity to understand the value of public-private partnerships in providing opportunities for young people.

Serbians’ visit to the Netherlands 68 ■ Young Employed and Independent

Total project budget: € 206,960 Financed by: EU Partners involved: Lead Partner: Business Start-Up Centre Kragujevac Other partners: Regional Chamber of Commerce, Regional Agency for Spatial and Economic Development Project duration: 15th April 2011 – 15th April 2013

Project Description and Goal:

The speci c objectives of the project are to: • create and preserve employment by enhancing economic viability of the private SME sector through the promotion of entrepreneurial spirit, business initiative and self employment among the young unemployed in Serbia • increase competitiveness and economic results of young entrepreneurs and existing SMEs through provision of a diverse portfolio of practi- cal training and development activities and direct nancial support through micro loans

Results of the research conducted for the project showed that training courses offered often lack the necessary linkage to actual company needs or simply the necessary quality due to the lack of agreed quality standards, and on the other side job seekers recognise the importance of training and the necessity of acquiring new skills. Consequently, awareness sessions and training workshops are designed to provide a platform for all concerned to explore development of business ideas and how they can be converted into practical actions leading to the creation of either new business ventures or expanding the horizons of existing ones. ■ SPARK’s Involvement

The services provided in this project included the following: • Awareness raising and promotion of lifelong learning, entrepreneurship and self employment. Exchange of best practices from EU. • Organisation of training activities (Training of Trainers and Business Skills Trainings) to meet the gap between demand and supply in the labour market. • Provision of financial and non-financial support to young entrepreneurs through Business Plan Competition, consultancy services and deployment of existing credit facility for start ups and business expansion • Capacity building of partner organisations to be able to better support potential and existing young entrepreneurs 69 ■ Hanga Umurimo Project

Total project budget: € 60,000 (but may change as project proceeds) Financed by: Rwandan Ministry of Trade and Industry Partners involved: Lead Partner: School of Finance and Banking (SFB), Kigali Project duration: 12th Dec 2011 – 31st May 2012 (Pilot phase)

Project Description and Goal:

Hanga Umurimo (“Job Creation”) is one of the Projects in the SME development plan with the purpose of nurturing an entrepreneurial culture among Rwandans and fostering the emergence and growth of a local based business class. The Hanga Umurimo Project strives to rise a new generation of Rwandans with an entrepreneurial attitude and business acumen to run competitive and innovative enterprises.

■ SPARK’s Involvement

The plan is to implement this entrepreneurship awareness campaign countrywide. For the pilot phase, SPARK in partnership with SFB is implement- ing the project in the 7 districts of the Eastern Province of Rwanda. The main activities of the project are to identify and train potential entrepreneurs and run a Business Plan Competition.

First, a training in Business plan writing is organised for 50 preselected applicants in each province, from which 10 winners with the best business ideas are selected. These will be linked to the Rwandan Development Bank for start-up loans. These loans are guaranteed by the ministry. The awardees are assisted in upgrading their business plans and facilitating their contract with the bank. Finally, advisory services are provided in the form of a 3 month coaching on business management skills and other issues related to starting up and growing the businesses.

About 3,500 applications were received from the 7 districts, from which 50 applications were preselected to participate in the business plan writing training. SFB engaged 15 of their trainers to deliver 5-day trainings for 2 groups of 25 participants in each district.

The project, which is in its 6-month pilot phase, is planned for 5 years with a total allocated budget of $32M. So far the ministry is satis ed with the progress of the project, and there is hope that the project will qualify for further implementation in the future 70 ■ Job Search, Basic Managerial Skills, Work Ef ciency Skills, Attitude, Behaviour & Ethics and Basic IT Skills

Total project budget: $ 2,925 Financed by: Odebrecht Partners involved: Lead Partner: BSC Monrovia Other Partners: Odebrecht Project duration: June 2011

Project Description:

SPARK organised collaborative training programmes in Liberia for intern students, as there was a need to build the capacity of trainees in soft and work readiness skills in addition to their technical skills. This resulted in an enhancement of understanding of diversities in the work place and beyond, and knowledge to respond to current and emerging issues more effectively and ef ciently in a professional manner. The trainings covered job search, basic managerial skills, work ef ciency skills, attitude, behaviour and ethics and basic IT skills.

Each training module was facilitated by our trained and certi ed trainers at the Grand Bassa Community College (GBCC) and supervised by an expe- rienced BSC Monrovia staff member. During the training, the facilitator had an input of 40% while the participants contributed the remaining 60%. This highly interactive method has proven ef cient in many cases especially for the purpose of knowledge retention.

These training modules were developed based on listening sessions held in both Monrovia and Buchanan with stakeholders on the perceived skills gap. After a critical look at their concerns, SPARK/BSC developed those ideas and concerns into a training package in collaboration with an Interna- tional Finance Corporation certi ed master trainer.

71 4.5 Project Development and Fundraising

2011 was dedicated to a more serious approach towards building SPARK’s fundraising strategy and proposal development capacity. Furthermore, alternative sources of fundraising opportunities were to be evaluated. The process started with thorough analyses of the current situation in the various SPARK of ces – existing capacities, challenges, and opportunities – and it was supported by the creation of a number of tools by the head of ce in Amsterdam. The topic also featured importantly at the SPARK meeting in Macedonia, discovering the wide range of creativity in de ning directions for future development.

■ Fundraising

There were a total of 22 project proposals developed in 2011 out of which 9 were accepted. 6 were raised in 2011 and started in 2011, while the other 3 were raised in 2011 but will start in 2012.

Raised and started in 2011:

Higher Education

• “I don’t need a parachute... to land in Europe!”, Romania (Western Balkans) (see 4.4)

Private Sector Development

• Youth Entrepreneurship Civic-Public Partnership, Kragujevac (see 4.4)

• Young Employed and Independent, Kragujavic (see 4.4)

• Hanga Umurimo; Consultant Services for Training, Business Plan Competition and Business Advisory Services, Rwanda (see 4.4)

• Proposal for Trainings – job search, basic managerial skills, work efficiency skills, attitude, behaviour & ethics and basic IT skills, Liberia (see 4.4)

72 Raised and started in 2011:

Research

• Consultancy Services – research into the use of violence by “excluded youth”, Liberia and Sierra Leone (see 4.3)

Raised in 2011, will start in 2012:

Project / programme title Location Period Budget

Youth Engagement in Political Parties Burundi, Palestinian Territories, 2012-2015 € 1,882,500 South Sudan

M&E solutions for Youth Employment Programme Palestinian Territories 2012-2013 $ 40,000

Diploma Acceptance Project Kosovo and Serbia 2011- € 150,000 continuous

73 ■ Youth engagement in Political Parties

Total project budget: € 1,882,500 Financed by: Political Parties Fund Partners involved: The Hague Academy Project duration: 1st Jan 2012 – 31st Dec 2015

Project Description and Goal:

The overall objective of this programme is to reduce instability in three fragile state environments (Burundi, Palestinian Territories, and South Sudan), through strengthening the institutional capacity of relevant political and civil society stakeholders to improve the social-economic position of young women and men.

The three inter-linked strategic objectives that guide the programme are: - capacity building of local partners advocating for improving the socio-economic position of young men and women. In turn, these non parti- san CSOs support and strengthen the capacity of political parties, political movements and/or relevant interest groups (including leaders and mem- bers of councils) with a similar objective or willing to advocate for the socio-economic position of youth. - increasing youth participation in political parties, interest groups, including business associations, unions, etc. and providing - through local partners - leadership training to young women and men. - enhancing multi-party and multi-stakeholder dialogue on improving the socio-economic position of youth, involving relevant local partners, CSOs, interest groups and political parties, higher education institutions, enterprises, business associations, business development organisations and employee organisations/unions and their youth representation/delegations.

The ultimate target group will bene t from the capacity building programme, the created networks and multi-stakeholders dialogue on different levels. Through the leadership programme and the trainings on good governance, democracy, security & rule of law, civil participation & accountabil- ity their knowledge and skills will be improved in the eld of interest, which they can apply in their jobs, their involvement in political parties and movements, interest groups etc. Through their involvement in the networks and dialogues, more cooperation and alliances will be built, which will be important for the positions individuals will have or get in the future and will, in general, contribute to more inclusion, cohesion and democracy in the reconstruction process of the country. 74 In order to achieve this, trainings and coaching of local partners, political parties and interest groups will be carried out covering:

- organisational aspects - good governance and democratic parties - fact based advocacy and organising multi party/stakeholders - developing, introducing and strengthening activities and services of partner organisations, interest groups and political parties for youth Just as important will be facilitating local partners, political parties and interest groups to develop activities that strengthen youth participation in socio-economic policies, programmes and decision-making.

75 ■ M&E solution for Youth Empowerment Programme

Total project budget: $ 40,000 Financed by: Taqeem, Birzeit, SPARK Partners involved: Birzeit University IT Centre for Excellence Project duration: Jan 2012 – June 2013

Project Description:

There is a broad agreement that institutions of higher education are being pressured to become more enterprising – particularly to play an enhanced role in contributing to local economic development and to the international competitiveness of their economies. Recently, Birzeit University has taken a centre stage among universities in Palestine in developing and implementing strategies and interventions that help transform university communi- ties into entrepreneurial environments that are conducive to establishing successful business start-ups. In this effort, Birzeit University is supported by SPARK to implement a project under its larger programme for Palestine.

The focus of the M&E programme is two-fold, rst is on the monitoring of the outcomes and the second is on the preparation for an impact evalua- tion. For outcome monitoring, our desire is to identify, develop and pilot a set of tools in 2012 that can allow us to measure project outcomes in 2013, and also intermediate outcomes, through a mixed-method approach. At the quantitative level we want to replace paper-based Performance Monitor- ing Forms, with more innovative, ITC-based tools, such as Web-based surveying, asking also for intermediate outcomes.

At the qualitative level we want to pilot a Most Signi cant Change methodology to particularly also capture intermediate outcomes that relate to attitudes, behaviour and business con dence, and use photo or video monitoring as story-telling media.

Preparations for an impact evaluation of the Birzeit IT Centre of Excellence project to be conducted in 2015 are under way. This involves planning for and designing the rst steps in the identi cation of appropriate counterfactuals. In order to attribute our impact, we aim to compare what would have happened to bene ciaries in the absence of Birzeit’s entrepreneurship development project, with what has actually happened to those students who participated in Bir Zeit’s entrepreneurship development project. Impact is estimated by comparing general IT student outcomes to those observed with participants to Birzeit’s entrepreneurship curriculum, Business Plan Competitions, match-making and linking to nance, and follow- up coaching. 76 Through this project, two M&E questions need to be answered after 2013:

1. What will be project outcomes in 2013, and how can we monitor these with innovative, IT-focused, attractive ways? 2. What has been the impact of Birzeit Curriculum-BPC-Matchmaking-Coaching pipeline approach, and how can we successfully evaluate this in a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) or quasi-experimental set-up?

■ Diploma Acceptance Project

Total project budget: € 150,000 Financed by: European Commission Partners involved: EUA Project duration: 24 months as of 1st March 2012

Project Description:

The agreement on diploma acceptance was reached on 21st – 22nd November 2011, in the framework of EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina (Kosovo) and Belgrade (Serbia). It establishes that the European University Association will certify diplomas issued by accredited higher educational institutions in Kosovo to be accepted in Serbia, in connection with further education and/or public employment.

SPARK is working as a partner in the implementation process, and has opened an of ce in the Ministry of Education Science and Technology in Pristina, where they will oversee the rst diploma veri cation, support applicants, and facilitate in the certi cation process, carried out by the Euro- pean University Association.

77 ■ Overview Fundraising

Since 2009, the NLMFA donor conditionality obliges SPARK to annually raise 25% of the contributions on SPARK’s largest grant. In 2011, SPARK raised:

Results 2011 Target 2011 Results 2010

# proposals submitted 22 25 6

NLMFA income in Euros 4,204,727 5,227,677 3,755,821

% of income of NLMFA 66.52% 47.09% 65,37%

Non NLMFA donor in Euros (excl EU & in kind) 1,920,725 5,257,392 1,891,

% of cash income of non NLMFA donors 30.39% 47.36% 32,92%

In kind contributions in Euros 41,079 391,502 35,304

% of non-NLMFA income of in-kind contributions 0.65% 3.53% 0,61%

European Funds in Euros 154,206 223,925 62,762

% of non-NLMFA income of European funds 2.44% 2.02% 1,09%

In partnership with many of the different organisations we have managed to continue building strong coalitions on local and regional levels looking for synergy of ideas and programmes and as visible this was recognised as a good practice in many of the cases. Still, there is a lot to be improved and learned in the coming years; therefore this will remain a vital and dynamic growth area for SPARK.

78

ORGANISATION SPARK is a growing, young, dynamic development NGO with 80 staff members in of ces in Amsterdam, Belgrade, Bujumbura, Juba, Kigali, Monrovia, Mitrovica, Pristina and Ramallah. SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship, so that young ambitious people are empowered to lead their post-conict society into prosperity.

SPARK is achieving its mission by organizing business plan competitions, business skills training, SME coaching & mentoring, business incubation, SME nancing, intensive higher vocational summer courses, curriculum development and quality assurance at universities and higher vocational education institutions.

Below is a map with the country locations that should be included. Please see description below: Current Areas of Responsibility

Previous areas of Near future areas of Responsibility Responsibility

- FYR Macedonia - Yemen - Montenegro - Egypt - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Tunisia - Afghanistan - Libya

Current Areas of Spark HQ in Responsibility Amsterdam

- Kosovo - Serbia - Palestine Territories - Liberia - Moldova - Sierra Leone - Burundi - Rwanda - Zimbabwe - South Sudan

80 ■ Strategy and Objectives 2011 n 2011 SPARK ventured into its 5-year MFSII 21 million Euro programme, of which the start-up phase took signi cantly more time and energy than initially planned. The MFSII programme, which makes up the bulk of the SPARK portfolio (along with IBCM), has had a signi cant impact on SPARK’s overall course and direction, helping to further develop the organisation’s strategies and objectives. Simultaneously, SPARK underwent internal organisation alignment with its new MFSII programme. SPARK’s focus was threefold:

1. Development of SPARK’s monitoring and evaluation capacity for MFSII. A M&E manager was hired to work on the M&E system and will continue to do so including further developing the Management Information System (MIS), which saw some selected key performance indicators change. 2. Commitment to the 25% non-NLMFA funding rule, requiring SPARK to place project development and funding at the top of its agenda. Much attention was placed on SPARK’s fundraising capacity and services development in work plans, courses of action and fundraising strategies for 2012. The donors’ increased interest in youth entrepreneurship, SME development and vocational education has put SPARK in an advantageous position to request for funds for projects. 3. Development on distinct and SPARK speci c activities and services. There is a need for SPARK to develop its own capacity to deliver services to partners in SPARK projects and to projects of other organisations, e.g. business skills, project development, nancial governance, quality manage- ment, training, coaching and research with fundraising. Most effective would be to offer these services in tenders and to other organisations against more market competitive fees.

In light of the achievements in 2011, SPARK has maintained its main internal objectives to achieve its mission. What have changed are its key perfor- mance indicators, setting higher more challenging goals. For example in SPARK’s 2011 Ohrid meeting, a new goal of 20,000 jobs created by 2015 was set, slightly altering the SPARK Multiple Year Plan 2011-2015.

81 ■ Re ection on Targets 2011

Project Targets 2011 • Create 90 businesses • Create 210 jobs • Train 4,700 individuals/entrepreneurs • Support 145 local partners and other institutions. Project development & Fundraising • Acquire non-NLMFA funding on existing and new projects • Surpass 25% benchmark imposed by MFS II and in view of donor diversification • Increase SPARK awareness in the Dutch development sector. Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation • Improve SPARK’s PME capacity, especially towards partners that are responsible for implementation • An M&E system and baseline study and formal arrangements to be made with MFS II partners. Finance, Administration and Reporting • Prepare administration for MFS II and financial monitoring of partners • Consolidate overhead (increase expected with the start of new projects) • 60% from total of all project/programme budgets will be spent in target areas. ICT and Knowledge management • Develop a well-functioning Management Information System • Implement IATI into TranSPARKency • Streamline intranet for streamlined communications and data/knowledge sharing. Quality Management and Transparency • Optimise transparency of TranSPARKency by adding MIS data • Create BSC-in-a-box or roll-out packages based on well-defined business ideas • Organise Brilliant Failures Award. Human Resources • Develop internal capacity for PME • Maintain staff satisfaction.

82 Overall, the targets that had been set for 2011 turned out to be realistic as almost all were met or exceeded. SPARK planned for 210 jobs to be created through 90 new businesses and in the MFSII programme alone 165 jobs through 46 businesses were created.

SPARK’s fundraising capacity and services development has been extensively addressed in work plans, courses of action and fundraising strategies for 2012 and further. SPARK successfully submitted 9 proposals of which one went to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NLMFA). The grant proposal to the Postcode Loterij was unfortunately denied again (as in 2010), but will be attempted again in 2012.

As for the M&E system, great headway has been made and an M&E manager was hired. This manager will continue to develop the system further in 2012, especially the Management information System connected to it.

Preparations were made for SPARK’s goal to become IATI compliant in 2012. SPARK wants to be the most transparent organisation in Europe. This means that all nancial reports and project evaluations and reports need to be gathered, organised and ready for submission and eventual presenta- tion on Spark-online and the TranSPARKency website.

83 ■ Organisational Actors

Supervisory Board

Board of Advisor to the directors Of ce Manager Recommendation Board of Directors HR+ QA

M&E Manager

Finance Manager Finance Of cers

ICT Manager ICT Of cers

Interns

Heads of of ce - Country Managers Project Managers

Project Of cers Interns / Volunteers Project Of cers Interns / Volunteers

SPARK has a logical organisational structure, whereby the directors receive input from various staff members. M&E, Finance and IT managers all report to the Directors, as does the Advisor to the Directors, and each can work closely together with the of cers in their departments. Both head of ce and eld of ces enjoy the support of a number of interns that assist in the smooth operation of day-to-day work and help on a variety of projects. The head of ce in Amsterdam conducts annual operational audits in the respective eld of ces for support and as an internal control mea- sure. 84 ■ Board of Directors

The Board of Directors oversees daily operations and management of the organisation, as well as decision making regarding policy, project develop- ment and innovation. The responsibilities, obligations and tasks of the Board of Directors are stipulated in the SPARK statutes.

Director: Yannick du Pont Co-director: Michel Richter

Remuneration: members of the Board of Director receive salaries based on VFI (Vereniging Fondswervende Instellingen) guidelines for NGOs with two directors. The salary amounts are mentioned in the speci cation of the Statement of Income and Expenditures of the nancial report and posted online at the SPARK TranSPARKency website.

Other Af liations: Yannick du Pont: Member of the Board Nieuw IS (pro bono). Michel Richter: Member of the Partos commission for quality improvement. Partos is the main branch/platform organisation for development coop- eration (pro bono).

■ Staff

On average in 2011, the number of staff employed by SPARK (including IBCM) was 80. Fifteen staff members were Amsterdam based, three of which were interns. In total, SPARK employed people from fteen different nationalities. 42% of the staff is female, 58% male. It is interesting to note that SPARK is a young organisation, with half of the 80 employees being below 35 years of age.

■ Interns

SPARK regularly provides internship opportunities for young and motivated people that want to gain experience working in an international NGO. The interns assist SPARK employees in a variety of functions and bring an enthusiasm that helps make SPARK a fast moving and vibrant organisation. The tasks and responsibilities of the interns range from minor administrative tasks to substantial independent work. Each intern has a supervisor that evaluates and gives feedback during the internship period. The interns are valuable to SPARK as they bring a fresh perspective and help to main- tain good relations with higher educational institutions in the Netherlands and abroad. 85 "My internship at SPARK was an extraordinary experience that will last me a lifetime. In Amsterdam, my supervisors supported me to develop an expertise in Monitoring and Evaluation using civil society indicators, but in a manner that allowed me to work autonomously, which is quite special for an internship. I later interned at the SPARK eld of ce in Palestine, where I learned rsthand about business plan competitions, and entrepreneur- ship. Even though I have a business background to some extent, this rst hand exposure in the eld of a fragile state was unlike anything I could have experienced other than with an international NGO such as SPARK." (Andrew Bacchus, intern in Amsterdam and Ramallah in 2011)

■ Volunteers

Most foreign teachers and experts that participate in the Summer/Winter Universities are volunteers, meaning that they do not get paid for their work and that we only pay for their travel and accommodation. Furthermore, in the organising of these events, student volunteers aid us in facilitating all the necessary logistics to make day to day running of events smooth and successful.

A volunteer in Amsterdam worked for SPARK from September through December 2011. She contributed written texts about SPARK projects for the SPARK website from a distance, and assisted in organising a 2-day Serbian volunteer study visit in Amsterdam in November for BSC Kragujevac.

A SPARK Volunteer Reference document stipulates the tasks that volunteers can perform, ranging from logistics, to promotion and administration, such as the registering of participants and arranging of booklets and promotional material. Volunteers are asked to evaluate their experiences for the bene t of SPARK staff, as we believe a lot can be learned from volunteers as they can have interesting insights and recommendations.

86 ■ Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board of SPARK monitors and evaluates the Board of Directors. The Supervisory Board follows SPARK Statutes and the internal regulations of the board.

Name Function

Former Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, University of Chairman: Erik Dirksen MSc Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Senior Project Manager, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, The Hague, Secretary: Olaf Bartelds M.A The Netherlands.

Senior Advisor Fragile States at PSO Capaciteit in ontwikkelingslanden. General member: Johan te Velde MSc

Senior staff member and editor-in-chief of monthly magazine Socialism & Democracy, General member: Mare Faber M.A Wiardi Beckman Stichting, The Netherlands.

Senior Consultant International Development, Berenschot, The Netherlands. General member: Marjolein Lem M.A

Executive Director of the Kosovo Education Centre (KEC) and Professor at the General member: Dugajin Popuvci Dr. University of Pristina, Pristina, Kosovo.

Interim Manager/Advisor to the Executive Board Stichting Espria, The Netherlands. General Member: Dineke Woldringh Drs

Former member of the European Parliament General Member: Jan Marinus Wiersma Drs.

87 ■ Report by the Supervisory Board

In 2011, the fth year of its existence, the Supervisory Board met seven times with the Board of Directors and Advisor to the Directors to discuss projects, progress and strategic issues. Additionally, the Supervisory Board met with the Supervisory Board of Bid Network.

2011 marked the start of the 5 year MFSII era. Which meant also much attention and focus would be placed on MFSII-related projects. The Supervisory Board supports SPARK in its mission and continuous aim for more quality, transparency and innovation. The main responsibilities of the Supervisory Board are to supervise the Board of Directors and to ensure that SPARK’s activities are in line with its mission statement. The Supervisory Board functions according to the “Code Wijffels”, the SPARK Statutes and the regulations of the Supervisory Board. In line with the CBF regulations, the Supervisory Board has signed a Supervisory Board Accountability Declaration explicating:

1. How it executes it supervisory role vis-à-vis the steering and management responsibilities of the Board of Directors. 2. How the monitoring of costs relates to the impact attained, which is cost-ef ciency and effectiveness of activities. 3. Monitoring of transparent communication and the provision of information by the organisation vis-à-vis its main target group and stakehold- ers, including the implementation of recommendations and handling of complaints, with the purpose of developing optimal relations with partners, donors and target groups (please nd a copy of the accountability statement enclosed in appendix).

An evaluation mechanism for the Supervisory Board was introduced in 2010, whereby the Board can self-evaluate its decisiveness, implementation and consider the openness of its relationship with the Board of Directors. In 2011 the Report of the self evaluation produced generally positive results highlighting the Supervisory Board’s openness, expertise and ability to work well as a team.

The Supervisory Board appoints the members of the Board of Directors (BoD). The current members of the Board of Directors, Mr. Yannick du Pont and Mr. Michel Richter, hold the positions of Director and Co-Director respectively. The BoD is responsible for organisational planning, policy making, project development and fundraising, daily management including quality management of projects and the organisation as a whole. Performance Assessment meetings with the members of the Board of Directors took place in 2011 and addressed performance on organisational targets as well as personal ambitions and management style.

By the end of 2011, the Supervisory Board consisted of eight members, with its newest member, Jan Marinus Wiersma, joining as the Supervisory Board’s link to the Advisory Board IBCM due to him being the former chairman of the Provisional Supervisory Board IBCM.

88 Overall, the members complement each other in terms of expertise and background relevant for SPARK. Each member of the Supervisory Board needs to be independent, as described in the Statutes of SPARK and in the established general pro le for a Supervisory Board member. A member holds his/her position for a maximum of four years and can be reappointed only once for another period of a maximum four years. The Supervisory Board members do not receive salaries. Further details on the remuneration of the Supervisory Board and Board of Directors can be found in the Financial Report.

The Supervisory Board monitors an ef cient and effective execution of the multi-year plan and, based on that, the annual plan. The main points are approved by the Supervisory Board while the other activities fall under the supervision of the BoD. In 2011, the Supervisory Board approved, amongst other issues, the following:

• The Annual plan 2011, taking into account the 2011-2015 multiple year plan and how this relates to the mission • Budget 2011 • The Annual Report including the Financial Report for 2010

In addition, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors discussed the developments regarding:

• The progress of the Enterprise Development Programme (MFSII) • The progress of the International Business College in Mitrovica (IBCM) • Their continued supervisory role within IBCM following the recommendation of SIDA that IBCM remains integral to SPARK for medium-term • Results of impact evaluation MFSI • Project Development / Acquisition • Transparency in communicating project, fundraising and overhead costs and achieved impact results to stakeholders. • Statutes, Rules & regulations and division of tasks between Supervisory Board members • SPARK staff survey 2010

SPARK communicates on various platforms with all our stakeholders to ensure that our work is transparent. The SPARK website is continuously updated with the latest developments. Furthermore, evaluations from projects are presented on our website and the tranSPARKency website, where all our nancial information is disclosed. SPARK has plans to become IATI compliant in 2012, so preparations have been made towards this.

The importance of a functioning feedback structure is ensured by the ISO-certi ed complaint system, which enables anyone to post a formal com- plaint directly via the website. The complaints are handled according to the procedure and corrective actions are taken when needed.

Sincerely yours, SPARK Supervisory Board Members, Amsterdam, 27 April 2012 89 90 91 ■ Committee of Recommendation

Name Function

Consultant Magna Charta Observatory. Former Secretary General of the Magna Charta Observatory on the Universities’ Dr. Andris Barblan Fundamental Values and Rights. Former Secretary General of the Association of European Universities.

Co-founder and Chairman of World University Service (WUS) Austria. Professor of International Law at the University of Graz. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Benedek Director at the Institute of International Law and International Relations and European Training and Research Centre

Former NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan, Former Head of the OSCE Mr. Daan Everts Mission to Kosovo and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for the United Nations.

Former Rector of the United Nations University Centre, Tokyo. Prof. Dr. Hans J.A. van Ginkel Knight in the order of the Netherlands’ Lion.

Director of the International Centre for Transitional Justice, Human Rights Watch, the Centre for Economic and Social Rights, the Institute for Transitional Justice and Reconciliation and Physicians for Human Rights. Former Justice at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Former Chairperson of the Richard J. Goldstone Commission of Inquiry regarding Public Violence and Intimidation "Goldstone Commission," Former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and Chairperson of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo. Mr. Tadeusz Mazowiecki Former Prime Minister of Poland, Former United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur.

Prof. Dr. P.W.M. de Meijer Former Rector of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Former Chairman National UNESCO Committee of the Netherlands.

Former Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq, Former Vice-Secretary General and Associate Administrator of UNDP, Drs. Ad Melkert Former Netherlands Executive Director at the World Bank in Washington, Former Netherlands Minister of Social Affairs and Employment.

President of Society for International Development. Former Chairman of IKV – Inter-church Peace Council - The Netherlands, Former UN Special Drs. Jan P. Pronk Representative for Sudan, Former Netherlands Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning, and Environment, Former Netherlands Minister of Development Cooperation, currently Professor at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Member of the Global Leadership Foundation. Former Minister of Defence in Finland, Dr. Elisabeth Rehn Former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Former Yugoslavia.

Former Swedish Ambassador to Germany, Co-Chairperson of the International Independent Inquiry on Dr. Carl Tham Kosovo, Former Secretary General of the Olof Palme International Centre, Former Minister of Education and Science of Sweden, Former Director General of Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

Chairman Dutch Advisory Board Humanity in Action, professor at the University of Amsterdam. Former Prof. Drs. Ed van Thijn Mayor of Amsterdam, Former Netherlands Minister of the Interior, Former Coordinator for International Monitoring (CIM) in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Former member of Netherlands Senate of the Dutch Labour Party. 92 Mr. Max van der Stoel sadly passed away on the 23rd April 2011. He served as a valuable member to SPARK’s Committee of Recommendation. He will be forever remembered for his contributions towards what SPARK has become today.

■ HR policy

In 2011 important steps were taken towards developing distinct and SPARK speci c activities and services; a focus and objective that we had set for ourselves in that year. A meeting was organised for staff to Ohrid Macedonia. Before the meeting, the staff were asked to ll in a Staff Survey on “SPARK Services”. SPARK recognizes the growing importance of being able to deliver more services “in house” as opposed to relying on external trainers, professors, experts and consultants to implement SPARK projects. The survey, or “competency scan”, therefore, intended to identify the competences, knowledge and skills already available within SPARK that we can make use of, mobilize, expand and eventually make available to partners, bene ciaries and maybe even other organisations. Subsequently, colleagues will be identi ed to act as trainers, consultants etc.

The Ohrid meeting was one of the rare occasions where all SPARK staff were together. We took full advantage of this and used this opportunity to share updates on developments and with this input were able to together adjust and establish objectives for SPARK for 2015; for example the creation of 20,000 jobs by 2015. Four courses of action were developed:

- SPARK Services – focus on private funding and services - Project Development – focus on institutional funding - Organisational Change (condition for the objectives) - Marketing and Communication

Since 2007, an evaluation and assessment system has been introduced and the information from the evaluation and assessment meetings has been used to set up a training plan for further development of staff. A training budget is available for the staff members, however the types of trainings still need to be decided upon after discussions between managers and employees have been held to determine the speci c needs for both individual development and SPARK development.

In 2011, a job satisfaction survey was carried out for the fth time. It showed overall satisfaction among the staff, but there was a slight decrease in comparison to 2010 as the overall average grade declined marginally (from 7.6 to 7.7 on a scale from 1 - 10). SPARK staff is especially satis ed with their tasks and responsibilities and with collaboration and atmosphere with averages of 4.1 and 4.2 out of 5 respectively. The lowest scores 93 were on Personal development and communication, which shows that more attention needs to be placed on training possibilities. Additionally, the re-designing of the intranet will hopefully contribute to effective internal communication.

SPARK introduced a Code of Conduct in 2007 that is signed by all employees as part of their SPARK employment contract. The purpose of the Code of Conduct is so that staff are aware of their expected behaviour when working for SPARK. Transparency and integrity are central in the Code of Conduct.

SPARK does not have an of cial diversity policy regarding the hiring of personnel, but in practice diversity is reached through an active informal policy, with attention to the balance in the current make-up of employees such as the male-female ratio and the number of local staff members employed in the eld of ces. SPARK believes in employing local staff as a means of empowering local professionals.

■ ICT and Knowledge management

SPARK’s IT investments are important since they enhance transparency, minimise opportunities for fraud and make our work more measurable. IT systems also reduce labour intensity in our programmes and facilitate management transfer to local partners, which is essential when making them nancially sustainable. In 2011 substantial progress was made on the development of the new Management Information System. It will be an important evaluation tool as it will fully relate impact data from the eld to expenses both at eld of ce level, head of ce level and overhead costs. In 2011 the indicators which will show the impact of the programmes were identi ed. Furthermore a Geo-Position programme was installed giving a graphic overview of SPARK’s results.

SPARK’s IT department is located in Macedonia and communicates with the head of ce mainly through email and Skype. Locating the IT department in Southeast Europe is in line with SPARK’s ambition of empowering local professionals.

Sharing know-how by using and adapting what someone else has already learned is one important way to achieve more ef ciency and effectiveness within SPARK. The importance of intensive knowledge-sharing with support of user-friendly and tailor-made IT solutions is more crucial than ever as SPARK continues to grow. A major step in achieving this exchange of knowledge is the re-design the intranet.

94 ■ Partners

The success of SPARK’s project has always depended on its close collaboration with partner organisations. SPARK has an extensive network of partners that include experts, trainers, and international and local development organisations. Together with these partners, but also by constantly working to nd new partners, SPARK is always searching for new opportunities to create synergies.

An example of this is SPARK’s partnership with BiD Network. After having decided to share an of ce together in 2009, SPARK and BiD Network together formed an alliance called the United Entrepreneurship Coalition, and was awarded an MFS-II grant in November 2010. Other cooperation partners in the alliance are Infodev, MSM, MDF, TF, NABC, and Intent. In 2011 the MFSII programme began and the network of partner organisations was solidi ed as the contracts for the entire programme period were signed and training programmes were developed. In addition to the ‘northern’ partners SPARK also gained new local partners in 2011 in all MFSII countries. Some of these local partners include Fundatia Corona Iasi (Romania), BSC Monrovia (Liberia), Birzeit University (Palestinian Territories) etc.

It is important to note that SPARK not only works with partners within MFSII projects, but also outside of it. An example are the Universities involved in the Summer and Winter Universities held each year.

The partnerships differ from project to project. In some cases partners receive funding via SPARK, in other cases partners receive funding from other donors directly and may sub-contract SPARK in certain projects as was done in the Hanga Umurimo project in Rwanda (see chapter 4.4 SPARK as Part of a Consortium, for more).

Regardless of the type of partnership, each case and each relationship provides a valuable learning opportunity for all parties involved. Knowledge is exchanged and skills and experiences are shared, all contributing to the development of all parties involved.

SPARK works together with partners whose mission can potentially complement SPARK’s mission. SPARK aims to develop higher education and entrepreneurship in post-conict societies, thereby creating employment and opportunities that empower young people to lead those societies into prosperity. SPARK therefore works together with organisations that support economic development and/or education reform.

SPARK in particular works with local NGOs that are specialised in entrepreneurship and education reform promotion, and educational institutions such as universities. But SPARK also works with local micro nance institutions and banks, business intermediaries, local and national government institutions, chambers of commerce, and business alliances. SPARK aims to facilitate cooperation between these organisations so that they can together provide an interlinked “chain” of interventions that promote entrepreneurship and SME development 95 ■ Partner policy related to capacity building

In post-con ict societies and fragile states, the capacity of the partner organisations is often limited. Building their capacity is in that case a starting point of our projects. In doing so, SPARK works together with a range of development organisations, such as MDF or the World Bank’s InfoDev that can offer trainings to the partners.

SPARK supports the capacity development of these partners, which is aimed at their sustainability and independence. We aim to strengthen their respective organisational structures as well as offering services such as coaching, the training of trainers and curriculum development. Furthermore, we support our partners in lobbying and fact-based advocacy. Three main approaches can thus be identied:

1. SPARK gives Southern partners the lead in designing as well as implementing projects. We believe that the best way to learn is to assure ownership and responsibility with the partners, and let them learn – and build their capacity – by doing. 2. Each programme has a strong capacity-building component. Under these components, resources are made available to support capacity- building measures at the Southern partner institutions. The exact support provided varies for each partner, and ranges from training in project cycle management, upgrading of the paper bookkeeping system to an automated system, study visits, etc. 3. SPARK eld ofce staff and project managers have a key responsibility to support Partners’ capacity building. Annually, the respective Project Manager, together with local eld ofce staff, evaluates the partnership with each Southern partner in an ofcial evaluation visit.

■ SPARK Communications

Effective and consistent internal and external communications are of value at SPARK. SPARK wants its stakeholders to be informed about where we are focusing our attention and money, the impact we are having within the countries we work, and why such impact is important. Communications material is intended for those who currently have, in the past have had, or in the future may have a relationship with SPARK. This includes SPARK staff, partner organisations, donor organisations, government ofcials, consultants, past and potential employees, among others. With Head Ofce in Amsterdam and international ofces spread across three continents, SPARK staff members rely on email and Skype to stay in touch on daily basis, as well our Spark Online platform. This is a custom-designed intranet database where SPARK staff can exchange information and documents on a regular basis.

Information is published externally on our website (www.spark-online.org), in our seasonal newsletters, on Facebook and LinkedIn, and in our annual brochures and reports. We share regular updates from the countries in which we operate – stories of successes, challenges and events, as well as 96 those of our partners. As internet is not always reliable across the countries in which SPARK works, we publish nearly as much in print as digitally, making our work accessible to more people.

SPARK staff participate in a variety of events throughout the year, at which external communications is essential. Africa Day was the largest of these events in 2011, bringing hundreds of current and potential players in the international development sector together in Den Haag, Netherlands in October. SPARK invited Princess Kofa, a rising Liberian entrepreneur who has been working with SPARK since 2010, to join in various workshops and share stories of her struggle and success. SPARK Director Yannick du Pont also presented at various workshops, and the SPARK information table attracted visitors throughout the day.

SPARK is rmly focused on transparency. We maintain a TranSPARKency website (transparkency.spark-online.org/) which publically details all project nances, reports and evaluations. In March 2012, SPARK became the rst Dutch NGO to fully implement the International Aid Transparency Initiative, the latest international standard in aid transparency. This is just the beginning. We are always open to ideas and feedback from stakehold- ers, and are committed to responding accordingly.

97

SPARK FOR IMPROVEMENT

SPARK continuously develops its standards of quality, transparency and innovation. This is exempli ed by our evaluation procedures and the publica- tion of these, along with all nancial records, online. SPARK is actively working towards an International ISO standard for NGOs, which has a strong focus on quality and transparency. It is important for SPARK to also have a positive impact in the Netherlands; therefore, we offer incubation space and training for Dutch NGOs through our involvement in the Nieuw IS programmes. 6.1 Quality

SPARK believes that, for its activities to be of the highest standard, an optimal functioning of the internal organisation is a prerequisite. Furthermore, an atmosphere is created in which learning is encouraged and both achievements and failures are openly communicated. The implementation of a quality management system further emphasises our devotion to quality. Maintaining such a system requires a streamlined human resource policy that establishes proper task delegation among staff, thereby improving overall ef ciency. Staff performance is evaluated and assessed regularly. Past, ongoing and future impact studies and external evaluations provide us with an accurate view on attained results within our programmes.

We aim to be as ef cient an organisation as possible, because by doing so we can ensure that our work has the impact we desire. Being (cost) effec- tive is important, as we hope to make the most of the grants we have available to us and are under the rightful scrutiny of both donors and the public at large. Our nancial indicators are as follows:

Financial indicators 2008 2009 2010 2011

Overhead % (management & administration / total expenses) 5.30% 3.31% 2.80% 3.06%

% spent on objectives/total income 89.37% 85.25% 85.51% 88.53%

% spent on objectives incl MCF /total income 90.11% 92.21% 89.94% 83.73%

% spent on objectives/total expenses 92.79% 93.59% 93.19% 95.62%

% spent on own fundraising/income own fundraising 1.37% 2.32% 8.29% 13.64% 99 ■ ISO certi cate, ANBI and CBF

SPARK holds a number of markers of quality including the ISO 9001:2008 quality management label. The ISO 9001 certi cate rewards the Quality Management System of an organisation; one that enhances stakeholder satisfaction and demonstrates continuous learning (improvement). SPARK’s Quality Management System involves procedures and requirements for our most important business processes such as the organisation of summer courses and business plan competition, as well as handling of complaints, and planning, monitoring and evaluation process.

An external auditor from BSI: Standards, Training, Testing, Assessment & Certi cation visited the SPARK Amsterdam head of ce in November, focus- ing on SPARK's implementation of the realisation procedures. The auditor did not nd any major inconsistencies in the implementation of these procedures or in SPARK's Quality Management System. The audit was also used as an extension to scope audit. Therefore the new procedure Capacity building of local partners on BST and BPC was audited and found to be effectively implemented.

SPARK is also registered by the Dutch Tax Administration as an entity with General Bene ts Objectives (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instellingen, ANBI), making donations tax deductible.

Furthermore, SPARK holds a “CBF certi cate”, which evaluates the principle of good governance and reliability of spending funds by non-pro t fund- ing organisations. CBF (Centraal Bureau Fondswerving) is a member of the International Committee on Fundraising Organizations (ICFO).

■ Quality standard for development sector

SPARK is a member of Partos Quality Committee. SPARK supports this Committee and through this body the Partos members encourage and facili- tate the introduction of an internationally acknowledged and externally audited quality system, e.g. ISO 9001. We believe that an international quality assurance would greatly improve the possibility to assess development organizations in an international context. The in 2007 obtained ISO 9001 certi cation enables SPARK to raise money from international donors and also create a framework that recognises the quality and results of our work outside the Netherlands. The Quality standard could also facilitate peer review and learning among organisations, something that will improve the sector as a whole. The general ISO 9001 is not speci cally tailored to the development sector, which makes it dif cult to apply to civil society organ-

100 formulation of minimal quality standards for the implementation of ISO 9001 relevant to various sector speci c aspects of development cooperation. This greatly facilitates the introduction of this quality system in notably Dutch development organisations and stimulates the further professionalisa- tion of the development sector in the Netherlands. In the long run it represents an important step towards the development of a sector speci c ISO quality system.

■ Complaint policy

No of cial complaint was submitted in 2011 (compared to 11 in 2010).

SPARK has a formal ISO-certi ed complaint procedure and the right to complain is open to all partners, nal bene ciaries and the general public. Expression of disapproval or discontent can be made via the website, in writing, or in person (verbal) to a member of SPARK staff. In case of a verbal complaint, this has to be written down by the staff member. The complaint form, as well as SPARK’s complaint policy and an explanation of the policy, are externally easily accessible through the internet and can be requested by anybody in hardcopy from head and eld of ces.

6.2 Transparency, Innovation and Learning

One of SPARK’s key assets is our exible and creative staff and our ability to nd innovative and original solutions to tackle internal and external barriers. The Brilliant Failures ceremony, the TranSPARKency website and our focus on an international quality norm for the development sector are three examples how we do this.

■ TranSPARKency

A key value at SPARK is transparency. We believe that being open about the work we do, the impact we achieve, and the means by which we achieve this is bene cial for partners, stakeholders and bene ciaries alike. To illustrate our openness, SPARK maintains a separate website called TranSPAR- Kency on which we publish all nancial information per project, as well as all relevant evaluation reports, down to the receipt level.

101 that it is important to be transparent about how funds received from donors are allocated, as well as allowing people to nd anything from the salary of the Board of Directors to the percentage of funds we spend on maintaining our own organisation.

Publishing the numbers online greatly improves our transparency; however, we realise there is yet more that could be done. In the future, SPARK aims to incorporate a Management Information System that incorporates impact data into TranSPARKency, thus integrating these with nancial data. This could further improve transparency, including detailed information on overhead costs to our organisation. By linking the numbers with impact, they will take on new meaning, aiding SPARK in its quest to become the most transparent NGO in Europe. Throughout 2011, our IT of cers have been working on a new MIS that will accomplish these goals. The proposed deadline for the MIS was end of April/May, 2011. However, developments were still being made throughout the year, and hopefully MIS will be fully functional in 2012.

SPARK then aims to present its data in accordance with the standards that have been set by the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), which proposes a common system of categorising and presenting information, including a standardised XML documentation system. In 2011 a start was made with adding the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard the TranSPARKency website. IATI is a global trans- parency standard that aims to make information about aid spending easier to access, use and understand. This will increase the transparency of the entire sector. In early 2012 SPARK will fully comply with the IATI standard and as such give full nancial disclosure.

■ Brilliant Failures

SPARK believes in sharing experiences and discussing how to learn from unintended mistakes. Development organisations, in particular, can gain much from dialogue, due to their continuous engagement with complex, unclear or unexpected situations.

Despite good intentions things may often not go as planned, sometimes resulting in outright failure. Inevitably, such a failure may be aggravating for an organisation, but it should not have to result in embarrassment or denial. Lessons need to be learned. Only by engaging in a constructive dialogue about mistakes made is it possible to prevent similar mistakes in the future. Not all mistakes are negative for an organisation. Even if the expected outcome has not been achieved, the attempt made by an organisation may result in other unexpected positive outcomes. A mistake can therefore turn out to be a brilliant mistake, or a brilliant failure.

In 2011, the ‘Brilliant Failures Award’ was given to the best learning moment/instrument in the development sector as a way to showcase the value of failures. The award ceremony was organised by SPARK and the Institute for Brilliant Failures, an initiative that originated from a project initiated 102 by ABN AMRO. It was originally established to create learning opportunities in business development and is based on the experience of entrepre- neurs who failed to achieve the desired results from their business.

SPARK applied that very idea to development organisations speci cally. The award ceremony for Brilliant Failures 2011 was held for the second time in October. This award ceremony was held during Partos Plaza, which ensured more integration into the development sector and also ensured more attention for the event.

The event is gaining more and more attention in the Dutch development sector as Partos is involved as sponsor and also offered to give the event and the concept of Brilliant Failures a prominent spot at Partos Plaza 2011. SPARK is happy to report that the amount of cases sent in for consider- ation rose substantially and a pre-selection had to be made by a jury. SPARK would like to continue this line for the 2012 edition and hopes transpar- ency about failures will become more common in the sector.

■ Learning

Our capacity-building efforts are not limited to supporting entrepreneurs and building capacity in post-conict societies. SPARK also believes that it is important to have a positive effect in the Netherlands. We see many young and talented development organisations in the Netherlands that rarely get a chance to develop their ideas. SPARK offers support and tries to tackle this problem by helping NGOs in the Netherlands that seek to profes- sionalise their projects and organisations.

We provide incubation space and help offer training sessions that we hope will strengthen the sector as a whole. The Incubator is located in Amster- dam and offers free of ce space at the University of Amsterdam.

For our contribution to training programmes for other NGOs, we work closely with Nieuw IS, a cooperation initiative of 24 small to medium-sized NGOs. SPARK director Yannick du Pont is a board member at Nieuw IS.

In 2011 SPARK became a member of PSO (Personnel Cooperation in Developing Countries), a learning and training centre for the Dutch as well as the Southern development sector. PSO assists its members and other development organisations to learn about the numerous aspects of capacity strengthening Southern Societies. 103 Learning, quality and transparency for development are three important elements for SPARK and also the elements that link SPARK to PSO and its objectives. By becoming a member of PSO, SPARK gained the opportunity to not only share its knowledge, but also learn much more speci cally regarding entrepreneurship in fragile states.

Additionally SPARK would have the opportunity to learn more about aid dependency and more importantly, how to avoid this and instead create an environment in which sustainability and development can be maintained and continued even after SPARK steps back and gives responsibility to its partners. And further yet, how to ensure that these partners go on to strengthen other partners and organisations in their networks.

Learning, quality and transparency for development are three important elements for SPARK and also the elements that link SPARK to PSO and its objectives. By becoming a member of PSO, SPARK gained the opportunity to not only share its knowledge, but also learn much more speci cally regarding entrepreneurship in fragile states.

Additionally SPARK would have the opportunity to learn more about aid dependency and more importantly, how to avoid this and instead create an environment in which sustainability and development can be maintained and continued even after SPARK steps back and gives responsibility to its partners. And further yet, how to ensure that these partners go on to strengthen other partners and organisations in their networks.

104

MAIN TARGETS AND BUDGET 2012

Objectives and targets for 2012 are based on the results of 2011 as well as on SPARK’s Multiple Year Plan 2011-2015.

In 2011 SPARK ventured into its 5-year MFS II 21 million Euro program. Many of the challenges accompanying this program with regard to new areas and countries as well as with regard to alignment of the internal organisation with this program will require continued attention in 2012. Moreover, new challenges have presented themselves with the recently acquired Political Parties II program starting in 2012 and the IBCM program. Internal re ections on the organisations and the external context referred to as the SPARK yearly returning Ohrid meetings have reset the SPARK longer term mission at 20,000 jobs created by 2015.

■ Project Targets • 300 businesses started • 1000 jobs created (in started SMEs) • 3000 individuals trained and found formal employment • 15% of partner organisations equalling or surpassing 50% revenue from domestic resources, as compared to total revenue • 500 existing business supported. • Average 3,5 score (on scale 1-5) direct participant satisfaction score

■ Project development & Fundraising • Acquire non-NLMFA funding on existing and new projects • Surpass 25% benchmark imposed by MFS II and in view of donor diversification • Increase SPARK awareness in the Dutch development sector and on a European level through active involvement in Dutch development sector debates and initiatives

■ Finance, Administration and Reporting • Prepare administration for MFS II and financial monitoring of partners • Consolidate overhead at 6%, maximum 7% • Own equity grows to Euro 1 million by 2015, sufficient to run operations to survive 1 year without funding. For 2012: 400.000 euro • 60% from total of all project/programme budgets will be spent in target areas. 106 ■ ICT, Knowledge management and transparency • Develop a well-functioning Management Information System • Streamline intranet for streamlined communications and data/knowledge sharing. • Optimise transparency of TranSPARKency by adding MIS data

■ Internal organisational development • Further development of SPARK’s monitoring and evaluation capacity • Focus on project development and fundraising • Development on distinct and SPARK specific activities and services

■ Long Term Goals Apart from these targets, SPARK also has a multiple year plan in effect for the period 2011-2015. This plan stipulates SPARK’s vision and strategy and sets out targets in annual growth in impact results, project output levels, but also takes in the internal organisation. This 5-year plan also describes expected developments that may affect SPARK both globally and in national environments:

• Post-conflict countries or territories and fragile states are increasingly recognised as areas with their own specific context characterised by a high level of complexity and risk. Such a context requires a level of specialisation, experience and expertise. • Private sector development is increasingly seen as essential for development and stability in post-conflict areas. • Education is still perceived as essential for (private sector) development, but the focus seems to remain on primary education. Vocational training is increasingly seen as vital for the development of an employable work force. University education seems to remain largely excluded from the scope for education development by institutional donors. • The development of a middle class in developing countries is increasingly acknowledged, but the emphasis is expected to remain on the weakest in society, the vulnerable and marginalised groups. • The public at large has adopted a critical attitude towards development organisations in terms of cost-efficiency, effectiveness, coherence (fragmented and lack of cooperation) and transparency. • It seems the relationship between development organisations and local civil society organisations is developing towards a more equal relationship. Local civil society organisations are predominantly involved as partners, subcontractor or target group of development organisations, but they may gradually evolve towards competition for development organisations as institutional donors start to open tenders and application procedures to them as well. 107 Statement of Income and expenditures

Income Budget 2012 € Realisation 2011 €

Income from own fundraising 350,000 89,082

Governmental grants 10,698,488 6,214,600

Other Income 128,000 17,056 Total Income 11,176,488 6,320,738

Expenditures Budget 2012 € Realisation 2011 € Spent on objectives

Higher Education 6,399,742 2,136,698

Private Sector Development 4,087,432 3,459,366

Spent on objectives total 10,487,174 5,596,065

Spent on obtaining funds Costs own fundraising 46,583 12,150

Costs obtaining governmental grants 301,330 65,192

Spent on obtaining funds total 347,913 77,342

Management and Administration

Costs of Management and Administration 315,825 178,993 Total expenditures 11,150,911 5,852,400 Result 25,577 468,338

RESULT CLEARED FOR MUTATION ALLOCATED FUNDS & RESERVE IBCM -74,423 280,996 108 Statement of Income and expenditures - continues

Distribution of result 2012 (2011) Budget 2012 € Realisation 2011 € Addition to/withdrawel from:

allocated reserves 0 7,761

other reserves -74,423 273,235

allocated microcredit funds 100,000 -58,067

allocated fund IBCM 0 245,409

Total 25,577 468,338

109 Annex C - Statement of division of expenditures

Objective Costs Fundraising Management & Total 2012 Budget 2011 Objectives Administration

Higher Education Private Sector Own funds Governmental Costs of implementation Development Development Grants

Grants and contributions 6,193,412 2,884,199 9,077,611 9,365,436

Obtaining governmental grants 175,000 175,000 75,000

Publicity and Communication 2,000 8,000 15,000 25,000 74,241

Personnel Costs 131,980 717,895 22,995 91,980 229,950 1,194,800 911,015

Housing costs 15,000 76,250 1,250 5,000 12,500 110,000 95,629

Of ce- and General costs 56,350 385,838 7,088 28,350 70,875 548,500 472,093

Depreciation and Interest 1,000 15,250 250 1,000 2,500 20,000 25,000

Total 6,399,742 4,087,432 46,583 301,330 315,825 11,150,911 11,018,414

% spent on objectives/total income 93.83% 95.08%

% spent on objectives/total income taking microcredit fund deposits & repayments into account 91.37% 95.53%

% spent on objectives/total expenses 94.05% 95.79%

% spent on own fundraising/income own fundraising 13.31% 8.42%

110 Percentages: per programme & donor and ef ciency indicators

Income & Percentages per donor / origin Budget 2012 € Budget 2012 %

NLMFA 4,966,457 44.44%

EU 251,784 2.25%

Other cash grants & income 5,480,247 49.03%

In kind contributions 478,000 4.28%

Total 11,176,488 100.00%

NLMFA EU Other cash grants & income In kind contributions

111 25% other funding obligation MFS:

2012 CALCULATION ON ACCRUAL BASIS IN KIND CONTRIBUTIONS INCLUDED Budget 2012 € Budget 2012 %

Total MFS 2012 grant NLMFA BiD Network part included 4,755,696 43.37%

Non - NLMFA grants & contributions 2012 SPARK Total incl in kind 6,210,031 56.63%

10,965,727 100.00%

Other NLMFA Grants SPARK 2012 210,761

Total income SPARK 2012 11,176,488

2012 CALCULATION EXCLUDING BiD NETWORK GRANT MFS II Budget 2012 € Budget 2012 %

Total MFS 2012 grant NLMFA BiD Network part included 3,355,696 35.08%

Non - NLMFA grants & contributions 2012 SPARK Total incl in kind 6,210,031 64.92%

9,565,727 100.00%

112

Balance sheet 31 December 2011 31 December 2010 ASSETS Fixed Assets

Fixed Assets 72,934 65,173

Financial xed assets 1,177,591 1,185,135

Spent on objectives total 1,250,526 1,250,309 Current Assets

Receivables & Accruals 998,363 1,356,362

Cash & cash equivalents 3,120,665 1,159,683

Current Assets total 4,119,028 2,516,046

TOTAL 5,369,554 3,766,354

RESERVES AND LIABILITIES Reserves Reserves allocated reserves 72,934 65,173 continuity reserve 622,214 348,979

TOTAL 695,149 414,153 Funds allocated funds 1,593,868 1,406,526 Current Liabilities

Payables & Accruals 3,080,537 1,945,676 TOTAL 5,369,554 3,766,354 114 Statement of Income and expenditures

Income Realisation 2011 Budget 2011 Realisation 2010

Income from own fundraising 89,082 424,305 56,012

Governmental grants 6,214,600 10,666,192 5,765,195

Other Income 17,056 10,000 19,452

Total Income 6,320,738 11,100,496 5,840,659

Expenditures Realisation 2011 Budget 2011 Realisation 2010

Spent on objectives

Higher Education 2,136,698 6,427,328 2,225,608

Private Sector Development 3,459,366 4,127,472 2,713,348 Spent on objectives total 5,596,065 10,554,799 4,938,956 Spent on obtaining funds

Costs own fundraising 12,150 35,729 3,949

Costs obtaining governmental grants 65,192 130,064 179,675 Spent on obtaining funds total 77,342 165,793 183,625 Management and Administration

Costs of Management and Administration 178,993 297,821 151,166

Total expenditures 5,852,400 11,018,414 5,273,746

Result 468,338 82,082 566,912

RESULT CLEARED FOR MUTATION ALLOCATED FUNDS & RESERVE IBCM 280,996 32,082 82,857 115 Statement of Income and expenditures

Distribution of result 2011 (2010) Realisation 2011 Budget 2011 Realisation 2010

Addition to/withdrawel from:

allocated reserves 7,761 0 -6,979

other reserves 273,235 32,082 89,836

allocated microcredit funds -58,067 50,000 412,664

allocated fund IBCM 245,409 0 71,391

Total 468,338 82,082 566,912

116 Cash ow Statement

Cash ow Statement 2011 € 2010 €

Cash ow from operational activities

Result 468,338 566,912

Depreciation xed assets (incl. cars) 33,243 25,033

Gross cash ow from operation activities 501,581 591,945

Mutation in current assets 358,000 1,036,894 Mutation (increase) in current liabilities 1,134,861 -1,241,167

Net cash ow from operational activities (A) 1,994,442 387,673 Cash ow from investment activities

Investment in xed assets -48,688 -19,876

Disposal of xed assets 7,684 1,822

Investment in nancial xed assets 7,544 -262,664

Cash ow from investment activities (B) -33,460 -280,718 Cash ow from nancing activities (C) 0 0

Mutation in Cash and cash equivalents (A+B+C) 1,960,982 106,954

Cash and cash equivalents 1 January 1,159,683 1,052,729

Cash and cash equivalents 31 December 3,120,665 1,159,683

Mutation in Cash and cash equivalents 1,960,982 106,954

117 ■ Accounting principles

■ General The annual accounts 2011 have been drawn up according to generally accepted accounting principles in the Netherlands and RJ 650 for Fundraising organisations. The accounts include the nancial statements of Stichting SPARK in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and the regional of ces in Belgrade, Mitrovica, Pristina, Bitola, Monrovia, Ramallah, Bujumbura and Kigali.

■ Principles of valuation Assets and liabilities are stated at face value unless indicated otherwise. Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded using the rate of the trans- action. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are converted at the exchange rate at the year-end.

■ Fixed assets The tangible xed assets are stated at purchase value minus annual depreciations, calculated on the basis of estimated useful economical lifetime. The depreciation is a xed percentage of the purchase price:

NL Rwanda Burundi furniture 25% 25% 20% computer hardware 33% 50% 20% cars 25% n.a. n.a.

The costs of fuel and usage of the cars are allocated to the projects based on a kilometer registration

■ Financial xed assets In the period 2007 - 2011, SPARK has signed 8 contracts with local partners to manage microcredit funds which bene t the start ups established under the Private Sector development projects. The contributions to these funds in the total period 2007-2011 were € 1.367.066. In 2011 € 50.523 was deposited. The participation is stated at its actual value at year end, taking into account losses on loans and received interest. Costs of fund management are presented as expenditures in the Statement of Income and Expenditures. The microcredit funds were originally nanced by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs through project grants (MFS & BSCK). The ownership of the 118 funds has been formally transferred to SPARK during 2011. SPARK pledged to keep using the funds for the same purposes as the original objective. Therefore, the funds are also presented under the allocated funds. Future losses on loans and costs of funds management will be deducted from these funds through the Statement of Income and Expenditures.

■ Reserves and Funds SPARK can freely access the amounts presented under the Continuity reserve and the Allocated reserves, provided that deductions from the allocated reserves are in line with the objective of the particular reserve. The allocated microcredit funds are freely accessible because the ownership of the funds is of cially transferred to SPARK. We have chosen to keep presenting them as a fund, since we will continue to use them for the same objective.

■ Liabilities - partner obligations SPARK has signed several contracts with partners, and herewith transferred certain project responsibilties and funds to them. The project grants presented under the income, as well as the expenses, include an amount for obligations towards local partners that SPARK has committed itself to transfer in 2012. These partners have the responsibility for the execution of (large) parts of the Bridging the Divide and MFS II projects.

■ Foundation of determining the result The result has been determined as follows: Grants are recognised as income in the statement of income and expenditure in proportions of the progress of the project as well as project expendi- ture. Income and expenditure are recorded in the period to which they relate.

■ Allocation of general organisational costs to the objectives Operational and organisation costs of the Amsterdam of ce have been allocated to the objectives using the time registration 2011 of all Amsterdam personnel. For further clari cation, please refer to the explanation provided under Annex C.

■ Income from own fundraising - Contributions in kind Professors/experts As of 2005, the contribution by professors and experts in kind is demonstrated in the annual report. Only if the professor or expert was paid by his employer during the period he teached for SPARK,the contribution is calculated as income. The contribution is thus in effect a contribution of the institution or company the person works for. 119 The calculation of the contribution is based on standard day rates for non-pro t organisations (MATRA), taking into account the average salary and overhead of a university professor/expert, or if lower at fair value.

■ Housing As of 2005, free of ce space offered by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is demonstrated in the annual report. The contribution from the UvA is calculated based on the of ce rent charged for comparable of ce space nearby.

■ Other in kind contributions For the MFS II & IBCM projects, several in kind contributions are demonstrated in this annual report. The municipality of Mitrovica provided SPARK with free usage of land for the purpose of establishing the International Business College Mitrovica. SPARK / IBCM has the right of usage for 10 years, until 2019. A donation for 1 year has been presented in this annual report.

All (other) in kind contributions have been stated at their fair value. The contributions are presented under Income from own fundraising and under the particular cost sort / activity they relate to in the Statement of Income in Expenditures.

120 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

ASSETS 31 december 2011 31 december 2010 Fixed assets

Furniture 9,849 9,111

Computer hardware 22,009 15,947

Cars 41,076 40,115 Total 72,934 65,173

Computer Fixed assets Total 2011 Furniture hardware Cars Bookvalue previous year € € € €

Purchase value 181,113 28,533 76,409 76,172

Accumulated depreciation 115,940 19,421 60,461 36,057

Book value 31 December 2010 65,173 9,111 15,947 40,115

Mutations Purchases 48,688 4,166 16,461 28,061

Disposals -7,684 - - -7,684

Depreciation 33,243 3,428 10,399 19,416

7,761 738 6,062 961

121 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

Computer Fixed assets Total 2011 Furniture hardware Cars Bookvalue year end € € € €

Purchase value 222,117 32,699 92,870 96,549

Accumulated depreciation 149,183 22,849 70,861 55,473

Bookvalue 31 December 2011 72,934 9,849 22,009 41,076

31 december 2011 31 december 2010

€ €

Fixed assets used for operations (furniture & hardware) 31,859 25,059

Fixed assets directly allocated to the objectives (cars) 41,076 40,115

Bookvalue 31 December 2011 72,934 65,173

Financial Fixed assets 31 december 2011 31 december 2010 Participation micro credit fund € €

Balance 31 december 2010 1,185,135 922,471

Mutation 2011 -7,544 262,664

Balance 31 december 2011 1,177,591 1,185,135 The nancial xed assets are directly allocated to the objective Private Sector Development. For the explanation of the usage of these funds, please see the description of the allocated revolving funds, under the Liabilities.

122 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

Current assets - Receivables & Accruals 31 december 2011 € 31 december 2010 €

Prepaid Grants for donors 702,011 1,191,515

Accounts receivables and pre paid expenses 296,352 164,847

998,363 1,356,362 Prepaid Grants for donors

Project King Badouin Foundation Phase II 8,999 1,077 Project EC Tempus Georgia 0 11,544

Project IBCM SIDA / Denmark 0 549,694 Project Bridging the Divide - NLMFA 670,573 627,408 Project World Bank Liberia 21,526 0 Project EC RED - EU 913 0 Project PSD/BSCK II - NLMFA 0 1,792

702,011 1,191,515 Accounts receivables and pre paid expenses

Prepaid expenses 574 12,700 Receivables from Partners 260,613 117,109

Other receivables 35,165 40,778

296,352 170,587

Reserve uncollectable receivables 0 -5,740

296,352 164,847 123 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

Cash & Cash equivalents 31 december 2011 € 31 december 2010 €

Cash Amsterdam 2,050 30 Current & savings accounts The Netherlands 2,368,977 998,896 Cash abroad of ces 2,740 3,890 Current accounts abroad of ces 746,898 156,867

Total 3,120,665 1,159,683

All liquidities are directly accessible

124 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

Speci cation of reserves 31 december 2011 € 31 december 2010 €

Continuity reserve 622,214 348,979 Allocated reserve for xed assets 72,934 65,173

Balance 31 December 695,149 414,153

Speci cation of reserves Continuity reserve € Fixed assets

Balance 31 december 2010 348,979 65,173 Mutation 2011 273,235 7,761

Balance 31 december 2011 622,214 72,934

General reserve In order to assure the continuation of the organisation, a minimum level of general reserve is necessary. From this reserve salary expenses of operational personnel and housing expenditures can be paid. A suf cient level of reserve is estimated at 100% of the annual organisational costs (€ 1.000.000 in 2011 incl. feasibilty studies). (in comparison to the maximum 150% of the annual costs of the working organisation from the "Richtlijn Reserves Goede Doelen" of the Vereniging Fondswervende Instellingen VFI). Currently reserves are 62% of the organisational costs 2011.

Allocated reserves An amount of euro 72.934 is reserved in xed assets.

125 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

Speci cation of allocated funds 31 december 2011 € 31 december 2010 €

Allocated reserve for IBCM 316,800 71,391 Revolving Microcredit fund 1,277,068 1,335,135

1,593,868 1,406,526 Allocated fund for IBCM

Balance 31 december 2010 71,391

Mutation 2011 245,409

Balance 31 december 2011 316,800

Under the IBCM project, tuition fees are charged to students. If the student cannot nance the tuition & possible accommodation expenses on its own, a scholarship can be awarded, consisting of a contribution to the tuition and accommodation expenses. These scholarships are nanced by NLMFA under certain conditions. Income from this NLMFA contribution is added to the allocated fund, after deduction of the costs made for student housing. The fund will be used to ascertain future sustainability of IBCM after current donor relations have ended. It thus can be used for any (future) IBCM project costs.

Revolving Microcredit fund Business Start-Ups

Balance 31 december 2010 1,335,135

Mutation 2011 -58,067

Balance 31 december 2011 1,277,068

126 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

In the period 2007 - 2010, SPARK has signed 8 contracts with local partners to manage microcredit funds which bene t the start ups established under the Private Sector development projects. The contributions to these funds of € 1.367.066 in 2007-2011 are nanced by NLMFA through project grants. Most of the funds are cash collaterals deposited at local micro- nance institutions or banks for a xed period. Thus the banks / insti- tutions disburse the loans from their own funds and the deposit minus administrative costs and defaults, plus gained interest on the deposit (or from the entrepreneurs) is returned to SPARK after a certain period.

The balance in SPARK's annual accounts therefore does not take into account the disbursed and repaid amounts by entrepreneurs, except for the fund in Liberia. In Liberia, the deposits + expected interest from the entrepreneurs are transferred to a bank account which is both accessible for SPARK and the local institution. SPARK has the contractual possibility to withdraw repaid loans and interest from that account, when quarterly reports have been approved by both parties.

Total microcredit fund mutation since 2007 can be summarized as follows:

Deposits into the funds 1,367,066 Withheld administrative costs for banks -18,775

Received interest added 41,364 Deducted bankrupt / delayed loans -112,588

Balance 31 december 2011 1,277,068

The revolving microcredit funds are € 96.193 higher than the counterpart nancial xed assets on the balance sheet. This is due to a € 96.193 reservation made for microcredit fund deposits in Liberia which have not been transferred to the local bank yet. Since the start of the fund an amount of € 1.378.062 has been disbursed to entrepreneurs. Of this amount, € 594.504 has been paid back at the end of 2011. The entrepreneurs pay interest rates ranging from 5% declining to 15% nominal on unpaid principal. The Revolving Funds are directly allocated to the objective Private Sector Development.

127 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

Current liabilities - Payables & Accruals 31 december 2011 € 31 december 2010 €

Grants 2,216,203 624,957 Partner obligations and payables 631,884 1,175,605 Shortterm debts, payables & accruals 232,450 145,113

3,080,537 1,945,676 Grants Project MFS 2007-2010 - NLMFA 192,568 192,568 Project IBCM - NLMFA 369,475 222,349 Project IBCM - MEST 500,000 0 Project MFS II - NLMFA 857,929 0 Project YEP - NLMFA 235,312 0 Project PSD/BSCK II 2008-2011 56,986 0 Project MYP 2009-2011 - NLMFA 0 40,178 Project UNDP - Entreprise development N.Kosovo 3,933 16,246 Project EC Red - EU 0 153,616

2,216,203 624,957

128 Explanatory notes to the Balance Sheet Statement

Partner obligations and payables

Project MFS 2007-2010 0 3,242 Project MFS II 2011-2015 61,164 0 Project PSD/BSCK II 2008-2011 2,063 175,401 Project Mitrovica College 250,000 61,293 Project Bridging the Divide 313,209 930,963 Project MYP 2009-2010 1,460 4,706 Project EU RED 2010-2012 3,988 0

631,884 1,175,605 Total

Short term debts, payables & accruals Auditing costs 59,195 34,339 Wages tax & social security premiums 15,279 14,900 Vacation days & allowance 24,849 20,515 Project related accounts payables 111,192 57,833 Other short term debts and accounts payables 21,935 17,525

232,450 145,113 Total The total amount of outstanding holidays 2011 is € 7.752.

129 OF BALANCE SHEET COMMITMENTS

The following projects relate to periods exceeding the year 2011:

Name Donor Period Total project grant

The European College Business Studies & Public Administration NLMFA 1/11/2009-31/12/2013 2,154,000 in Mitrovica, Kosovo (College)

VIP Business support Program (MATRA/Bartimeus) Bartimeus 1/11/2009-31/12/2012 35,235 Bridging the Divide NLMFA 1/9/2010-30/8/2012 1,216,334 EU RED (EU Aid) EU 1/12/2010-30/11/2012 417,827 Mede nancieringsstelsel II (MFS II) NLMFA 1/1/2011-31/12/2015 21,347,600 Youth Engagement Program (YEP) NLMFA 1/1/2012-31/12/2015 1,882,500

■ MFS II 25% other funding obligation The MFS II Grant stipulates that at least 25% of the annual organisational income of the MFS II Alliance needs to originate from other sources than NLMFA. If that percentage is not realized, the Ministry can ask for a refund of part of the grant. As for 2011, SPARK realized a percentage of 49% (excluding Alliance partner BiD Network; see section about Percentages).

■ Outstanding VAT reclaim As a result of discussion between The Ministry of Finance and Partos (the branche organisation for aid organisations in The Netherlands) it has become clear that Dutch aid organisations can apply the 0% VAT rule in certain circumstances. SPARK belongs to those organisations. In 2011 we have therefore reclaimed VAT paid in The Netherlands of an amount of € 112.405 concerning the period 2006 - 2010. Until today however, we have not received a nal decision by the tax authorities regarding this reclaim. Of this total an amount of approximately € 28.000 concerns VAT paid on subsidized project expenses and this will be returned to the donors. An amount of € 84.000 concerns VAT paid on indirect costs and will be added to the continuity reserve when refunded by the tax authorities. The amount of paid VAT 2011 to be reclaimed is approximately € 24.000 of which € 14.000 on indirect costs.

130 OF BALANCE SHEET COMMITMENTS

■ Rental obligations As of 1 January 2010 SPARK relocated to another location near Central Station. These new premises are rented together with BiD Network. The total expenses per year are € 32.500. The contract ends on 11 May 2012.

■ Credit facility ING Bank The ING Bank provided SPARK with a credit facility of € 200.000. In return SPARK has pledged its present and future assets.

■ Bank Guarantee Of ce rent The ING provided a bank guarentee per 1-1 2010 on behalf of BiD Network for an amount of € 7.750 regarding the rent of the new of ce. This amount is deducted from the above mentioned credit facility.

131 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure INCOME 2011 € 2010 € Income from own fundraising

Grants Summer Universities - in kind contributions visiting professors / other 14,840 11,130

Private Sector Development in kind - Int. trainers and other 0 800

MFS II - in kind contributions 3,060 15,374

IBCM - in kind contribution land 8,578 8,578

Grant King Badouin Foundation - scholarship database 7,922 10,076

Contribution in kind - rent University of Amsterdam 8,000 8,000

IBCM - in kind contribution books 6,601 0

World Bank - Liberia research 25,871 0

Stichting Doen - BSC Zimbabwe 14,209 0

Miscellaneous income projects 0 2,054 Total - Income from own fundraising 89,082 56,012 Governmental grants

Grants NLMFA (MFS, PSD-BSCK II, MYP, Mitrovica College, Bridging the Divide) 4,196,298 3,817,150

Grants EC - Tempus Programme (Tempus Georgia) 0 61,910

Grant SIDA / Denmark - Mitrovica College 1,767,998 1,806,357

Grant UNDP - Entreprise development Northern Kosovo 87,669 74,954

Grant Bartimeus / MATRA - VIP Moldova 8,430 3,972

Grant EU - EC Red 154,206 852 Total - Income from own fundraising 6,214,600 5,765,195 132 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure INCOME 2011 € 2010 € Other Income

Other miscellaneous income & private donations 17,056 19,452

17,056 19,452

Total income 6,320,738 5,840,659

Most grants still need nal approval of the donor.

The grants include an amount of € 9003 for obligations towards partners under MFS II that SPARK has committed itself to transfer in 2012, as well as an obligation of € 24.067 concerning 2012 under the EU RED project for partner Fractal.

From total income an amount of € 1.045.220 is used for project management and overhead; an amount of € 5.275.518 is used for direct project expenditures (including those partner obligations).

For the valuation method of the in kind contributions, see the section Accounting principles.

133 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure EXPENDITURES 2011 € 2010 € Spent on objectives

Grants and contributions 4,209,015 3,817,856

Direct costs obtaining governmental grants 43,626 90,307

Publicity and Communication 18,844 289,549

Personnel Costs 994,278 716,045

Housing costs 98,902 66,839

Of ce- and General costs 396,337 260,080

Depreciation and Interest 91,398 33,070 Total - Income from own fundraising 5,852,400 5,273,746

Grants and contributions 2011 € 2010 € Private Sector development programs

Remunerations 3rd parties involved in projects (partners, experts, trainers, teachers, etc) 156,320 682,389

Project travel and accommodation costs SPARK & 3rd parties 10,555 104,898

Capacity building of partners - non travel / remuneration 804,616 351,259

Direct poverty allevation - non travel / remuneration 1,257,873 72,881

Policy making - non travel / remuneration 158,837 122,162

Bridging the Divide Mitrovica project - non travel / remuneration -64,545 850,563

Contingencies 0 0

Own contributions students / participants 0 0 134 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure

Grants and contributions 2011 € 2010 € Higher Education programmes

Summer / Winter courses 135,573 149,178

Establishing International business College Mitrovica 1,788,396 1,401,355

Other Higher Education project costs 0 96,817

Contingencies 0 307

Own contributions students / participants -38,611 -13,952 Total - Higher Education programmes 4,209,015 3,817,856

ObtainingTotal - Obtaining governmental governmental grants 2011 € 2010 €

Feasibility studies and project acquisition 43,626 90,307 43,626 90,307

Total - Publicity and Communication Publicity and Communication 2011 € 2010 €

Amsterdam of ce - project promotion and advertising 9,843 3,236

Projects - project promotion and advertising 9,001 286,313 18,844 289,549

135 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure

Personnel Costs 2011 € 2010 €

Amsterdam

Gross salaries 621,188 485,702

Social security premiums & Pensions 70,932 61,392

Other personnel costs 24,517 15,793

Staff training (including eld of ce staff) 32,798 19,402 Field of ces

Local project coordination & of cers 244,842 130,708

Other personnel costs 0 3,048 994,278 716,045

In 2011, the organisation had 15 (2010: 15) staff members on average in Amsterdam / Project Management (including interns) and 30 (2010: 14) in the local of ces.

Personnel operating under the IBCM project (with the exception of SPARK Kosovo eld of ce personnel) is presented under the Direct project expenditures in 2011 (and 2010).

136 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure

Remuneration directors Yannick du Pont - Director Michel Richter - Co-Director

Employment contract Inde nite Inde nite

Hours 40 32

Parttime % 100% 80% Annual remuneration

Gross salary 86,988 61,476

Holiday allowance 6,959 4,918

Other xed/variable remunerations - - 93,947 66,394

Social securities employer 7,404 7,404

PensionTotal Housing contribution costs employer 4,267 2,952

Other - -

Total 2011 105,618 76,750

Total 2010 80,523 59,217

Housing costs 2011 € 2010 €

Rent and utilities - Amsterdam of ce 46,947 47,793

Rent and utilities - eld of ces 51,955 19,047 98,902 66,839 137 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure Of ce and general costs 2011 € 2010 € Amsterdam Of ce supplies, telecommunication & postage, other of ce costs 13,148 24,514 IT infrastructure services - maintenance 9,108 10,889 Project evaluation and reports 2,665 3,030 SPARK support/donations to projects in NL and NL visibility 8,023 2,121 Special projects (Monrovia Summer courses, Scanning project) 9 14,715 Organisational fees and memberships 2,614 7,860 Administration and auditing 22,488 30,548 Quality assurance 6,110 7,490 Development of IT infrastructure 230 0 Development / Purchase of Finance Software 11,121 115 Insurances 4,097 2,024 Representation 871 3,663 Other general expenditures 4,600 0 Contingencies 17,300 30,408 Field of ces / projects Of ce supplies, telecommunication & postage, other of ce costs 155,864 35,844 Project evaluation and reports 83,852 41,446 Administration and auditing 46,299 37,600 Representation 7,939 7,357 Other general expenditures 0 455 396,337 260,080 138 Explanatory notes to the Statement of Income and Expenditure

Depreciation and Interest 2011 € 2010 €

Depreciation xed assets 31,870 9,411

Bank fees, costs and interest 1,420 1,631

Interest, costs and default loans microcreditfunds 58,127 11,336

Bank fees, costs and interest projects -18 10,693 91,398 33,070

TOTAL EXPENDITURES 5,852,400 5,273,746

RESULT 468,338 566,912

RESULT CLEARED FOR MUTATION ALLOCATED FUNDS 280,996 82,857

Project income and expenditures In Annex 1 project income and expenditures are stated per project.

139 Annex C - Statement of division of expenditures

Objective Costs Fundraising Management & Total 2011 Budget 2011 Total 2010 Objectives Administration

Higher Education Private Sector Own funds Governmental Costs of implementation Development Development Grants

Grants and contributions 1,885,357 2,323,657 4,209,015 9,365,436 3,817,856

Obtaining governmental grants 43,626 43,626 75,000 90,307

Publicity and Communication 4,952 4,048 9,843 18,844 74,241 289,549

Personnel Costs 152,564 688,414 1,743 16,297 135,259 994,278 911,015 716,045

Housing costs 17,410 71,825 109 1,019 8,459 98,821 95,629 66,839

Of ce- and General costs 62,951 312,508 238 2,228 18,493 396,418 472,093 260,080

Depreciation and Interest 13,464 58,914 216 2,022 16,782 91,398 25,000 33,070

Total 2,136,698 3,459,366 12,150 65,192 178,993 5,852,400 11,018,414 5,273,746

% spent on objectives/total income 88.53% 95.08% 84.56%

% spent on objectives/total income taking microcredit fund deposits & repayments into account 83.73% 95.53% 88.92%

% spent on objectives/total expenses 95.62% 95.79% 93.65%

% spent on own fundraising/income own fundraising 13.64% 8.42% 7.05%

The main cause of the deviations opposed to the budget 2011, is the underspending under the IBCM project compared to the budget 2011. This is mainly due to the fact that the construction of the College was postponed until 2012. Depreciation & Interest is much higher as expected due to higher default loans under the microcredit funds. 140 ■ Explanation distribution of expenditures

SPARK has one of ce in Amsterdam (headquarter) and several eld of ces in the countries where the projects are executed. SPARK's projects can be divided into two objectives: Higher Education (development) (HE) & Private Sector Development (PSD). The HE department aims to support and strenghten educational institutions, like local universities. This is achieved by (for instance) the organisation of Summer universities and Quality improvement projects at universities.

The PSD department tries to stimulate entrepreneurship and development in the private sector in post conict areas by, for instance, organising busi- ness plan competitions and trainings for young (starting) entrepreneurs. Conferences and other trainings aimed at local capacity building are other PSD activities.

In all our projects local & regional partners are stimulated to work together as much as possible and to contribute to our projects.

Division of the expenditures relevant for SPARK (HE, PSD, Obtaining of own funds, Obtaining governmental grants and Management & Administration) takes place as follows:

Expenses which can be quali ed as project expenditures (for instance Rent of lecture rooms & training space, reimbursements to trainers, travel and accomodation expenses of participants and trainers, reading materials, etc) are directly allocated to the objective HE & PSD. These expenditures are presented under "Grants and Contributions".

Operational and organisational costs of the eld of ces regarding "Publicity and Communication", "Personnel costs", "Housing costs", "Of ce and general costs" and "Depreciation and Interest" are also directly allocated to the objectives. If a eld of ce has worked on projects with different objectives, the expenditures are allocated towards the objectives HE and PSD based on the time spent (hour registration) on different projects.

Operational and organisation costs of the Amsterdam of ce are allocated to the objectives using the time registration of all International (mostly Amsterdam based) Management, Administrative & Support personnel.

An exception to this, are the promotion expenses occurred in The Netherlands, and direct costs for obtaining governmental grants. These are directly allocated towards the objectives "costs of own fundraising" and "costs of obtaining governmental grants". Projectmanagement, Finance and IT hours directly registered on projects, are allocated to the objectives HE and PSD.

141 Indirect hours regarding Finance, IT, Organisation and Personnel are allocated to Management & Administration (=overhead). Absence days were not taken into account when allocating, except when the total number of estimated working days was determined for the budget.

(Indirect) Hours regarding Fundraising Governmental grants are allocated to the objective "Obtaining governmental grants". (Indirect) Hours regarding Fundraising Other contributions are allocated to the objective "Obtaining of own funds", as well as General promotion and advertisement costs.

SPARK's own funds mainly consist of in kind contributions, like contributions of partners of training space, renovation costs of incubators that partners paid, free of ce space or usage of land, and (employers of) professors and trainers who for t any reimbursement for the time and effort they spent on our projects.

Also the university of Amsterdam has provided us with free of ce space, which now is used as an incubator for young innovating NGO's. Obtaining these contributions doesn't require a lot of time and money. Hence, only a small percentage of the operational and organisation expenses (0,23% in 2011) as well as general promotion and advertisement costs, are presented as costs for obtaining own funds.

142 Percentages: per programme & donor and ef ciency indicators

INCOME Realisation 2011 € Realisation 2011 %

Project (cash) grants from donors

Grant Mede nancieringsstelsel II 2011 -2015 - NLMFA 3,502,191 55.41%

Grant PSD/BSCK II 2008-2011 NLMFA 42,418 0.67%

Grant Entreprise dev. Northern Kosovo - UNDP 87,669 1.39%

Grant Bridging the Divide - NLMFA 43,165 0.68%

Grant EC Red programme - EU Aid 154,206 2.44%

Grant Mitrovica Youth Programme 2009-2011 - NLMFA 140,578 2.22%

Grant Liberia research project - World Bank 25,871 0.41%

Grant King Badouin Foundation - scholarship database 7,922 0.13%

Grant VIP Moldova - Bartimeus / MATRA 8,430 0.13%

Grant IBCM - SIDA 1,767,998 27.97%

Grant IBCM - NLMFA 467,946 7.40%

Grant BSC Zimbabwe - Stichting DOEN 14,209 0.22% 6,262,602 99.08%

143 Percentages: per programme & donor and ef ciency indicators

INCOME Realisation 2011 € Realisation 2011 %

Other income

Grant Mede nancieringsstelsel in kind - rent, human resources and other 3,060 0.05%

MYP in kind - visition professor remunerations 14,840 0.23%

IBCM - land contribution from municipality 8,578 0.14%

IBCM - books donated 6,601 0.10%

Contribution in kind - rent University of Amsterdam 8,000 0.13%

Other miscellaneous income 17,056 0.27% Total - Other income 58,136 0.92%

Total income 6,320,738 100.00%

144 Percentages: per programme & donor and ef ciency indicators

Income & Percentages per donor / origin 2011 € 2011 %

NLMFA 4,204,727 66.52%

EU 154,206 2,44%

Other cash grants & income 1,920,725 30.39%

In kind contributions 41,079 0.65%

Total 6,320,738 100.00%

NLMFA EU Other cash grants & income In kind contributions

145 Percentages: per programme & donor and ef ciency indicators

25% other funding obligation MFS:

2011 CALCULATION ON ACCRUAL BASIS IN KIND CONTRIBUTIONS INCLUDED 2011 € 2011 %

Total MFS 2011 grant NLMFA BiD Network part included 3,502,191 62.34%

Non - NLMFA grants & contributions 2011 SPARK Total incl in kind 2,116,011 37.66%

5,618,201 100.00%

Other NLMFA Grants SPARK 2011 702,536

Total income SPARK 2011 6,320,738

2011 CALCULATION EXCLUDING BiD NETWORK GRANT MFS II 2011 € 2011 %

Total MFS 2011 grant NLMFA BiD Network part excluded 2,273,212 51.79%

Non - NLMFA grants & contributions 2011 SPARK Total incl in kind 2,116,011 48.21%

Total 4,389,222 100.00%

146 Percentages: per programme & donor and ef ciency indicators

Other percentages of interest Realisation 2011 % Budget 2011 %

Overhead % 3.06% 2.70%

AMS organisational (personnel, of ce, xed organisation) costs versus total costs 14.86% 7.52%

AMS versus total costs 17.86% 9.28%

AMS labor costs versus total costs 12.25% 6.06%

AMS labor versus total labor costs (ex non-SPARK) 74.53% 76.11%

AMS labor + local labor costs versus total costs 16.43% 7.96%

AMS + local of ce & labor costs versus total costs 25.59% 12.45%

NL vs local costs organisational costs 62.92% -

% spent on objectives/total expenses 95.62% 95.79%

% spent on own fundraising/income own fundraising 13.64% 8.42%

Programme spending ratio 79.94% 90.46%

The programme spending ratio is the percentage of total spending on the programmes divided through total income.

147 Abbreviations used:

Projects

College The European College Business Studies & Public Administration in Mitrovica, Kosovo (College)

EU Red EU Support for Regional Economic Development, Northern Kosovo

IBCM The European College Business Studies & Public Administration in Mitrovica, Kosovo (College)

KBF II Maintenance scholarship database KBF

MFS Mede nancieringsstelsel subsidie

MYP Mitrovica Youth Programme (, from exclusion to regional intergration)

PSD/BSCK II Enabling Private Sector Development in the Balkans

Tempus Georgia Developing an Internal Quality Assurance System at the Telavi State University

UNDP Entreprise development Northern Kosovo

VIP Moldova VIP business support program nanced by Bartimeus/MATRA

YEP Youth Engagement Programme

148 Abbreviations used:

Donor Organisations

Bartimeus Bartimeus International

CBM Community Building Mitrovica

Denmark The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

EU Aid EuropeAid

EC European Commission

KBF King Badouin Foundation

NLMFA Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

SIDA Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UvA Universiteit van Amsterdam

World Bank World Bank

149 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 INCOME Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe

Project grants from € € € € € € € € € € € € € donors Grant Mede nancieringsstelsel II 2,273,212 2,273,212 2011 -2015 - NLMFA SPARK

Grant Mede nancieringsstelsel II 1,228,979 1,228,979 2011 -2015 - NLMFA BiD Netw.

Grant PSD/BSCK II 2008-2011 NLMFA 42,418 42,418 Grant Entreprise dev. Northern 87,669 87,669 Kosovo - UNDP

Grant Bridging the Divide - NLMFA 43,165 43,165 Grant EC Red programme - EU Aid 154,206 154,206 Grant Mitrovica Youth Programme 140,578 140,578 2009-2010 - NLMFA

Grant World Bank Liberia Research 25,871 25,871 Grant King Badouin Foundation - 7,922 7,922 scholarship database

Grant VIP Moldova - Bartimeus / MATRA 8,430 8,430

Grant IBCM - SIDA 1,767,998 1,767,998

Grant IBCM - NLMFA 467,946 467,946

Grant BSC Zimbabwe - Stichting Doen 14,209 14,209

6,262,602 3,502,191 42,418 87,669 43,165 154,206 140,578 25,871 7,922 8,430 2,235,944 14,209 6,262,602 150 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project

Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 INCOME Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe

Other income € € € € € € € € € € € € €

MFS lI in kind - rent, human 3,060 3,060 3,060 resources and other

MYP in kind - visition professor 14,840 14,840 14,840 remunerations

IBCM - land contribution 8,578 8,578 8,578 IBCM - books donated 6,601 6,601 6,601 Contribution in kind - rent 8,000 8,000 University of Amsterdam

Other miscellaneous income 17,056 1,000 17,056

58,136 3,060 0 0 .0 0 14,840 0 0 0 16,179 0 58,136

Total Income 6,320,738 3,505,251 42,418 87,669 43,165 154,206 155,418 25,871 7,922 8,430 2,252,123 14,209 6,320,738

151 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 EXPENDITURE Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe

Labor costs international € € € € € € € € € € € € € support staff

Gross salaries 621,188 621,188

Social security premiums 57,872 57,872

Pension schemes 13,060 13,060

Other personnel costs 24,517 24,517

716,637 716,637 Amsterdam Of ce Costs

Rent and utilities 46,867 46,867

Small of ce equipment 81 81 Of ce supplies 5,233 5,233

Telecommunication 5,742 5,742

Postage 1,247 1,247

IT infrastructure services - maintenance 9,108 9,108

Other of ce costs 927 927

69,204 69,204

Abroad of ces Labor costs project coordination 136,915 22,917 17,873 21,961 5,436 38,613 1,128 244,842

Abroad of ces housing costs 1,500 1,500

Abroad of ces of ce costs 136,915 16,188 4,428 6,971 2,382 38,613 823 206,319

Total 785,841 273,829 39,105 22,301 0 28,933 9,318 0 0 0 77,225 1,951 1,238,502 152 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 Project Activities Costs Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe

All programs remuneration € € € € € € € € € € € € € partners, travel costs etc

Project coordination project partners 70,350 -7,417 37,870 -9,305 37,835 2,705 2,137 134,175

Volunteers/interns and logistic of cers -568 2,309 5,782 7,523

College staff remunerations 209,805 209,805

(Co-)professor / teaching staff remunerations 4,200 728,689 732,889

Committee, trainers and other remunerations 3,933 1,729 5,662

Local business consultants & jury members 1,814 18,542 3,333 23,689

Visiting professor remunerations - in kind 14,840 14,840

Consultancy / other human resources - in kind 0

Travel costs SPARK Staff 5,276 200 8,025 1,760 836 25,093 5,673 46,861

Travel costs Students / training participants (part in kind) 33,058 33,058

Travel costs teachers, professors, experts and trainers -4,311 7,208 1,757 42,012 46,666

TotalTravel costs Stakeholders and other participants -12,763 927 794 3,229 4,143 51,392 47,723

TotalPrivate Sector development programs Capacity building of partners

Establishment Business Start-Up 49,588 49,588 Centres, Incubators and BAC's 0 Establishment Business Incubators - in kind

Curricula development -50,952 8,967 -41,985 153 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project

Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 Project Activities Costs Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe

All programs remuneration € € € € € € € € € € € € € partners, travel costs etc

Training / capacity building of partner institutions 379,980 23,543 1,839 405,362

Training / capacity building of partner 411,380 411,380 institutions by Alliance partner

Support to regional Business Start-up centres 0

ICT development BSC's 0

SENSI network established 0

Coordination meetings -19,725 -19,725

Training/conference facilities - in kind 0 TotalDirect Poverty Alleviation

Direct Poverty Alleviation 610,677 610,677

Direct Poverty Alleviation by Alliance partner 662,695 662,695

Business plan competitions -7,379 -7,379

Course programmes / business trainings -449 18,948 18,499

Internship programme -8,000 -8,000

Consultancy & loans for SME's -20,000 -20,000 deposits in Microcredit funds

Introducing ISO standards 0

Other promotion & visibility -779 2,146 15 1,381 154 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project

Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 Project Activities Costs Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe

Policymaking € € € € € € € € € € € € €

Policy making 47,797 207 48,004

Policy making by Alliance partner 78,100 78,100

Conferences / events in NL 0

Regional conferences 32,733 32,733 TotalBridging the Divide

Component I - Infrastructure Upgrades -35,094 -35,094

Component II- M-M@G & Mi:2 -33,812 -33,812

Component III - Centre for Resources, -13,574 -13,574 Youth and Media (CRYM)

Other direct project costs (IT equipment) 17,935 17,935 Higher Education programmes Summer / winter courses

Recreational programmes (part in kind) 4,512 4,512

Course programmes 0 0

Reading & Teaching materials 19,509 19,509

Translation of materials & interpretation 4,444 4,444

Certi cates & information packs courses / 924 924 training programs 155 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project

Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 Project Activities Costs Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe Higher Education programmes € € € € € € € € € € € € € Summer / winter courses

Forums, seminars & workshops 525 525

Stakeholder conferences 0 0

Training / capacity building of partner 10,728 10,728 institutions

Establishing International business College Mitrovica

Interim costs College & moving costs 144,243 144,243

Construction of College 140,528 140,528

Construction of College - in kind 8,578 8,578 contribution land

Equipment of College 78,864 78,864

Running costs college 74,224 74,224

Start-up costs College including License 4,249 4,249

Transisitional year programme 35,579 35,579

Books - in kind contribution 6,601 6,601

Curricula development 9,641 9,641

Promotion, Admission & Scholarships 154,140 154,140

Carreer & Alumni centre College including Internships 16,708 16,708

Quality Assurance Centre College 52,268 52,268 156 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project

Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 Project Activities Costs Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe Other Higher Education projects € € € € € € € € € € € € € Scanning personnel 101 101

Development scholarship database KBF 0

Translation equipment 21,959 21,959

Contingencies 0

Own contributions participants -2,465 -36,146 -38,611

Total Project Activities Costs 0 2,260,978 -70,792 63,744 -65,825 97,183 133,478 22,892 15 4,729 1,752,249 10,735 4,209,387

Other Activities Costs

(Project) promotion and advertising 9,843 4,048 4,952 18,844

Project evaluation and reports 2,665 73,505 261 326 76,757

Project evaluation and reports by 6,700 6,700 Alliance partner

Project evaluation and reports - 3,060 3,060 consultancy hours in kind

Feasibility studies, fundraising, 43,626 43,626 conferences and project acquisition

SPARK support/donations to projects 8,023 8,023 in NL and NL visibility

Alumni programme 0 -370 -370

157 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project

Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 Project Activities Costs Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe Other Activities Costs € € € € € € € € € € € € €

Special projects funded by SPARK 9 9 (incl de cit Scanning)

Contingencies 17,300 17,300

Total 81,466 83,265 261 0 0 4,048 4,908 0 0 0 0 0 173,948 Organization Costs Fixed organization costs

Organizational fees and memberships 2,614 -3 2,611

Administration and auditing 22,488 17,322 -2,435 852 19,730 10,830 68,787

Insurances 4,097 4,097

Representation 871 223 722 37 244 1,842 4,843 27 8,810

Depreciation on xed assets 31,870 31,870

Other general expenditures 4,600 4,600 Variable organzation costs

Quality assurance 6,110 6,110

SPARK staff training & development 32,798 32,798

Development / Purchase of Finance Software 11,121 11,121

Development of IT infrastructure 230 230

Total Organization Costs 116,798 17,322 -2,215 1,575 37 19,730 244 1,842 0 0 15,673 27 171,033 158 Speci cation of the result 2011 per project

Bridging the KBF - Mitrovica BSC NL MFS II PSD/BSCK II UNDPII EC RED MYP WB Liberia VIP Moldova TOTAL 2011 Project Activities Costs Divide Phase II College Zimbabwe Interests and bank costs € € € € € € € € € € € € €

Interest -3,287 -1,568 -4,855

Interest received on microcredit funds -16,464 -16,464

Administrative costs fund mgt & 74,591 74,591 bankrupt loans

Bank transaction fees 6,275 -68 50 6,256

Total Interest and bank costs 61,115 -1,568 -68 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 59,528

TOTAL COSTS 1,045,220 2,633,826 -33,709 87,669 -65,788 149,894 147,949 24,734 15 4,729 1,845,148 12,713 5,852,400

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT FEES PER PROJECT / NET RESULT 871,425 76,127 0 108,953 4,311 7,469 1,137 7,908 3,700 406,976 1,496 468,338

159 160 Acronyms

AFAB Association des Femmes Entrepreneurs FPCCIA Federation of Palestinian Chamber of Commerce

ALU Association of Liberian Universities IATI International Aid Transparency Initiative

APF Agriprofocus Group IBCM International Business College Mitrovica

BAC Business Advisory Centre ISO International Organisation of Standardisation

BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina JCI Junior Chamber International

BPC Business Plan Competition LBBF Liberia Better Business Forum

BSC Business Start-up Centre (Business Service Centre) LEAP Local Enterprise Assistance Programme

BSCK Business Start-up Centre Kosovo LW Leadership Weekend

BST Business Skills Training M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

BTI Business Technology Incubator MDF Management for Development Foundation

BWF Business women Forum MFSII Mede nancieringsstelsel 2011-2015 (Co- nancing System 2011-2015) CBM Community Building Mitrovica

CCE Centre for Continuing Education MIS Management Information System

CoE Centre of Excellence MSC Mitrovica Summer Courses

COPED Conseil Pour l’Education et le Développement MWU Mitrovica Winter University

CRYM Centre for Research, Youth and Media MYP Mitrovica Youth Programme

CSO Civil Society Organisation NLMFA Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

DANIDA Danish International Development Agency PSD Private Sector Development

EFTA European Free Trade Associationy PSF Private Sector Federation

ESU European Students’ Union PSO Personel Samenwerking in Ontwikkelingslanden (personnel Cooperation in Developing Countries) FEM-NUR National University of Rwanda 161 Acronyms

PSU Pristina Summer University

RCT Randomised Controlled Trial

REJA Résaue des organisations de Jeunes en Action pour la paix, la reconciliation et le développement

SEE Southeast Europe

SENSI Southeast European Network for Business Support Centres and Incubators

SIDA Swedish International Development Agency

SME Small and Medium sized Enterprise

SPACE European Network for Business Studies and Languages

UEC United Entrepreneurship Coalition

UM University of Mitrovica

UP University of Pristina

VIP Visually Impaired Persons

YES Youth Employment Systems

162 Contact

SPARK Van Diemenstraat 70 1013 CN Amsterdam

The Netherlands T: +31 (0)20 7530311 www.spark-online.org

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